Promises
by Aition
Summary: Rose set's off looking for Dimitri, what happens when she finds him? Happy times and bad times are bound to begin, but in the end what will be left? found out by reading PROMISES now. set after Shadow Kiss.
1. Chapter 1

I didn't know why I was here exactly, but I didn't care much either. The gypsy lady had been right about Dimitri, and quite obviously right about me and Lissa, too.

Dimitri lost what was most valuable to him, which at the time he thought was me. Turns out that it wasn't me, but his soul. He was forced into eternal night, and now I was going to kill him.

After graduation Lissa would be living it up in the royal court having people weight on her hand and foot.

And as for me well, I had a much simpilar fate, I killed the undead, I killed strigoi. And right now, I was hunting one strigoi in particular: Dimitri. The man I loved-and still do love, for that matter.

It had been almost a month since I'd set out searching for Dimitri, and I still hadn't managed to get my hands on him. On my search I had managed to wipe out a hell of a lot of strgoi though, so at least I was getting better. The only thing that could screw me up now would be the delay I'd be facing when I saw him.

Every now and then a strigoi I was fighting would recognize me, and mention something about Dimitri. Once, I actually had a full on conversation. Usually I'd just find and kill as many as I could on my way to Russia, but this one caught my interest.

"_Hey, you're Hathaway aren't you?" he straightened up, letting his guard down._

_I took a swing at him with the stake, hoping to take him out nice and quick. But I missed and he grabbed me, holding his teeth to my throat. Damn, I thought he was giving me an opening. I struggled hopelessly, trying to free myself, failing miserably. Well, at least I took out all of his friends._

"_Belikov said you were good, guess we should have listened to him. He thinks you're going to get him," he chuckled. "We told him 'she can't get you if we get her first', and so we've been looking for you. We'd just given up and come to rest, and so you stumble into to our humble little cave,"_

"_You know Dimitri?" talking back couldn't really hurt, seeing as he could snap my neck at any second. It wasn't very flattering to hear that I had strigoi actually searching for me, just as I was searching for them._

"_Yeah, pity that. I recon he was looking forward to seeing you again. Always talks about you, he said he misses you." I didn't know why he was stalling, but I wasn't going to pass the chance up._

"_Where is he? Why are there strigoi looking for me? What have I done to you to make uo come looking for me…?" I tried being persuasive, even know it was utterly pointless._

"_Does it really matter? You're going to die now anyway, or I could take you to him…" he started, and I held my breath, praying that he'd risk it and give me the opportunity I needed. "I'll change you first though. Okay how about this. I'll give you two options, and you can pick one, okay? By the way I guess I should just mention how generous I'm being right now, I was told to kill you at sight."_

_I showed a great amount of self control by refraining from telling him to go fuck himself, and managed to nod once in agreement, and mumble out a question. "Who ordered you to kill me?"_

"_Mistress Nicole. She wants your head on a platterfor all of the damaged you've caused in our society." He frowned, contemplating what to do next. I almost cracked up laughing at the way he mentioned their 'society', almost as if they were civilized beings who were being hunted for no good reason. "Okay, so you can either become immortally awesome like me, or I can kill you right now. Okay, take your pick," The tone he used was cruel, and it actually gave me some very false hope._

_Questions started bubbling in my mind. Could I be with Dimitri again if I became what he was? Would he still want me? Was this guy really giving me a chance? No. I couldn't. Dimitri would be so very disappointed in me for even having thought about going strigoi. I felt guilt swell up in my stomach around the same time I remembered that I had a lighter on me._

_I had to stall._

"_So if I go strigoi , I can be with Dimitri again?" I asked innocently while shoving my lose hand up into my bra where I kept the lighter hidden. I wasn't a smoker, but I always carried one with me to burn up the bodies of the strigoi I killed. I needed something that'd make the flame a lot bigge thougr, but what could I use?_

"_Yeah, if he still wants yo," he looked up and down my body, smirking lightly. "So you pick strigoi then? You want to be back with Belikov?" I felt his teeth graze along the side on my neck, and a shuddered rolled down my spine._

_I needed a torch... I needed gas or- spray on deodorant! I pulled it out of my pocket, and got ready for the attack._

"_Jam your stupid fucking offers up your stone cold ass you immortal prick!" I lighted up the lighter and faced the spray can at him, spraying at the same time. There was a longer streak of fire and the offending stigoi burst up in flames, writhing in pain. _

"_Fuck!" he screamed, rolling on the ground trying to extinguish himself._

_Meanwhile I was scurrying over to collect my stake so I could finish this off. Once I found it I spun around as the nauseous feeling started bubbling rapidly in my stomach, it was a signal. A warning signal that said: There's more._

"_Shit," I hissed, bolting over to stake the burning fucker before his other buddies could find us. I was in no suchstate to continue fighting like this. I started retreating backwards, still facing the cave with my lighter, deodorant and stake._

_The nausea rolled off around the same time the sun light decided to try and blind me._

"You seek answers that can be given by a young one who does not know that she knows them," she stated. Well that was a hell of a lot of help then wasn't it? "You can find the girl and she will know you. She will know him and where he is," she continued, re-catching my interest. "She can help you more than this though, but she knows not. This girl is like you, but has the power of the remaining remnants of your heart," that sounded pretty cool. "She has mastered beyond possible, but only in the dreams does she think it. Go now, and find her." She made that sound easy enough, but I still had one little issue.

"And where am I supposed to find this all mighty one?"

"She is the sister of the one you praise, but has had many changes. You will find her where you will find your heart." She said in a wise tone.

That didn't help me very much though. "So she's with Dimitri?" I was still trying to decode her stupid wise code things. "That doesn't really help me much…"

She sighed, irritated that I couldn't work out her code. "She's with Lissa! Jeez, kids today I tell ya. Now scram." She started shooing me off.

"Err, okay bye. Thanks lady…"

If she was with Lissa…that meant that she was at the academy. Great, one of the places that I didn't want to be.

***

I arrived at the gates, and it was Alberta who came to greet me.

"Rose? Rose is that really you?" she was sprinting towards me with her arms wide ready for a big reunion hug now, ugh. "Rose! It's you!" she squealed as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Yeah it's me, and I need to see someone here," I patted her on the back a few times until she eventually let go. When I saw her face, there were tears in her eyes.

"Of course! Who do you need to see, Rose?"

Now we'd hit a snag. "I…I don't know. She supposed to have awesome powers or something, and she's younger then I am."

Recognition seemed to slap her in the face. "You're looking for Alina?" her face was still happy, but it had a grim edge.

Well, I didn't know her but she sounded alright enough. Just one last thing to check. "I don't know what relation she has, but she's connected to Dimitri somehow. So can you take me to her?"

She grimaced and faltered for a few moments, seeming to be debating with herself. She nodded after several moments, and took my hand. It surprised me how much she'd changed.

I pursed my lips, trying to hold the question back, but failing miserably in the end. "How's Lissa holding up?" I blurted out, and she began smiling, but with a sadness in her eyes.

"She misses you very much, but I think she's doing okay. You should visit her while you're here, I'm sure that would make her feel better." Something in her tone told me Lissa was all but fine, so I let myself fall into her head.

She was happy, but yet so, so depressed. She was happy for what she had with Christian, and that Adrian and him had finally started getting along. But she was grieving over me like I had died or something, and she wasn't far off.

Inside I was all but dead; the one thing driving me on was my promise to kill the one thing keeping me alive. Dimitri.

I pulled back into my head as we entered the elementary campus. Why were we here? "Um, how old is she exactly?" it surprised me that it hadn't occurred to me earlier.

The question caught her off guard. "Err…that depends on which you mean. In ways she's very mature…and in other ways she makes preschoolers look mature. But she's turning fifteen in a few days…"

I gasped. I was putting all hope I had for finding Dimitri into a fifteen year old girl that makes five years olds look mature? "What?" I breathed, stumbling over my foot and having to catch my balance.

"But, she is only fifteen in age. In body you'd think she's around twenty or twenty-five, what with how bloody tell she is…not to mention the strength. In mind she's probably varies from five years old when she wants to. But on average she usually acts at about eighteen. And when she's being full on serious she'd out age me."

Sounded like the kid had a split personality. Great, I was entrusting my search in a fifteen year old who couldn't control her age.

"And…well there are some other things you should know," she paused and stopped walking, holding me with her and looking deep into my eyes. "This girl…she's different to anything any of us have ever seen, Rose. Her parents are…well dhampire and…strigoi. She was someone born out of a strigoi relationship, but somehow she came out different. She's a Moroi with the build strength endurance and speed as a dhampire… She's put the seniors here to shame with the skills she posses', and she's somehow specialized in two elements…," she looked at me, and let some of it sink in before she continued.

"She specialized in fire, which was nothing out of the ordinary. But she has somehow also specialized in spirit, Rose…and the things she does are uncanny. But over all she's just like you in away." She finished smiling, but I could see something hiding in her eyes.

"Shit," I muttered, to stunned to choke out anything else. "Is that even possible? I mean come on! As if any Moroi could specialize in two elements…" _and_ be as fast and strong as a dhampire. It was unheard of! Not to mention this Moroi had a strigoi parent.

"That's not all…she's more like you then you in lots of ways. She's also…shadow kissed. But not by Lissa, by…Adrian,"

I couldn't keep it in. "Bullshit!" I squeaked out with next to no breath. That's not possible, Adrian wasn't skilled enough yet. Well, he could be but that was a hell of a lot of improvement over the past month.

"No, she is. But what she does different is that she can send Adrian back thoughts and emotions…she's really nothing we've ever seen before. One last thing," she started, but before she could continue she was interrupted by an opening door.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there, oh hey guardian Alberta, what's up?" said the girl that had almost knocked Alberta out with the door.

She had slightly wavy long brown hair, and she didn't look like she belonged here in the elementary campus at all. She appeared to be a very, very pale dhampire, but judging by the description I was just given, I could easily say that this must have been her, this was Alina… and Alina looked like the female version of Dimitri.

She turned to say something, and we locked eyes in some sort of weird recognition show down. Looking at her made my empty heart ache like it was being burned with acid, and her name escaped me lips.

At the same moment she said "R-Rose? Rose H-Hathaway?" well, at least she knew me.

I turned on Alberta with a murderous glare, ripping over to whisper into her ear. "She's a Belikov, isn't she?" I hissed into her ear.

"No…she's his half sister. They have the same father. And she was raised by them, she's a Royal Rose, her name is Aleniana Jennifer…Ozera. Christian's mother was her mother, which means she half related to him, too. She was raised by the Ivashkov's though, so Adrian is sort of a brotherly figure to her. But she never loved anyone more then she loved her 'uncle' Dimitri."

She interrupted our whispering with, "You're Rose Hathaway. The one who's going to kill my uncle…" she sounded very accusing when she said this, her eyes narrowing and my temper flared.

"What do you think I should do then!? He would have wanted to die if he became strigoi, he told me! This is all I can do for him now so keep your mouth shut!" my legs gave out an I shriveled up on the ground, curling into a defensive ball as tears spurted out on my eyes and dry sobs choked out on my throat.

And then I blacked out…

I woke up in the all-too-familiar school clinic. Even though I'd been gone for a month now, I still remembered this place perfectly.

But something was different, nothing seemed very real…and I had a killer headache.

I just met Dimitri's little sister. And she didn't want me to kill him.

"You're awake!" A familiar voice squealed, and my heart ached again. The voice shouldn't have been familiar, seeing as I'd heard it only once before.

Alina stood up and came to stand by me, placing a hand to my forehead. It tingled a bit, and when the tingling stopped my headache calmed itself down. She'd just healed me.

"You're Dimitri's little sister…" I stated to obvious, but she nodded anyway. "I…" I didn't know what else to say, so I cut straight to the point. "I need your help. And I know you're going to want to help me."

I explained her everything in detail, and she waited, listening patiently.

"And so I need you to show me where he is so I can kill him like he'd want me too," I finished up and waited for her to say something. But she said nothing so I asked, "So, can you help me?"

She smiled, but shook her head. I was opened my mouth to protest but she held a finger up to silence me.

"I will help, but we will not kill him" I began to protest again, but she cut me off once more. "Listen! We don't need to kill him, because I can bring him back." She let me absorb that for a minute.

I was dumb-struck. "W…How? But he's not dead," _yet_ I added in grudgingly.

She grinned smugly but also sadly. "I know, and that's exactly my point. If he really is strigoi, I can bring him back; I can give him back his soul."

I was overflowing with emotions now, most of which were excitement. "You can? How? So you're going to help? And you know where he is?" she just kept nodding and nodding until I stopped.

"But," she said, and I held my breath, waiting to here her conditions. "I know four people who are coming with us." She grinned.

Those last words of her seemed to be some sort of signal for the others to trot in the door. Adrian, Christian, Eddy and Lissa all stepped through the door grinning like they'd won the lottery.

"Rose!" they all squealed in the same moment, and the tears started forming in my eyes.

Lissa was crying too, and I could swear that I saw something sparkle on Christian's cheek, but he was quick to dispose of it.

Lissa all but tackled me on to the bed I'd just gotten up from, and she started sobbing with me.

"I missed you so - so much!" she cried through broken sobs of joy. The emotions filing through the bond were all very bright, and varied from happiness to astonishment. Apparently she and the others hadn't expected to see me again.

"I missed you too, Liss. You couldn't imagine how much…" I peered up over Lissa's shoulder to see Eddy, Christian and Adrian beaming down at me. "I missed you both too," I smirked up at them. "Even you, Christian." He chuckled and Lissa let go of me.

"How have you been? Did you find Dimitri? How many strigoi have you killed? Do you miss the academy?" the questions started rolling in.

"I've been…well we won't go there. No I didn't find Dimitri, but I often found strigoi who talked about him that knew me. Apparently he still remembers and talks about me. I don't know how many I've killed now and surprisingly yes, I do miss the academy, more then you could ever imagine."

We sat there content and catching up with each other for about two hours before we got kicked out of the sick bay. As we walked through the school I got eyed everywhere, but no-one came up to say anything.I spotted out Ralf and Jesse, and they both turned and ran when they saw me. We all had a good laugh at that.

"Well, I hate to be the one to bust up the reunion and all… but you guys have got to get packing, cause I'm not aloud to stay on campus after six, and it's already five forty-five," I mumbled, feeling bad about dragging us along. "Which doesn't really give us much time to get ready…"

They grinned at me with a look that told me that they thought I was a bit behind.

"Don't worry; I got them to get ready before." Alina said, smugness radiating out of her.

"Well then, tell us where we're we've got to go and I'll go organize you guys leaving while you collect your bags." My voice was light again.

"You won't like this, Rose. But we're going to Spokane." Alina said.

I could feel my face harden, and I didn't trust my voice so I nodded and turned to escape. Of all the places he could have been…he picked Spokane. The place I killed my first strigoi, and the place one of my best friends was murdered.

After I finished sorting out leaving, they all showed up with decent sized bags. The school was lending as a black SUV, and so we piled all of out belonging into the back.

"Road trip," Eddy chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. I envied him right then, because I knew how much it hurt him going back to Spokane as well. Mason – the friend that had been killed there – was Eddy's best friend, and this would be twice as hard for him as it would be for me.

We all laughed along with him.

***

Once we arrived at out destination, we booked rooms at a crappy little hotel and dumped out bags.

"We should rest first, or we won't have the energy for the fight that's waiting." I stated as another wave of faint nausea crept over me. "There's going to be a lot more strigoi there then just Dimitri. But I can handle them so don't worry."

They all started at me with incredulous eyes.

"Erm Rose, Adrian, Alina, and Lissa have all got super compulsion. All the strigoi will be doing is staring at imaginary objects, utterly horrified while Alina grants him his soul,"

Well, that was a slap in the face. I'd been expecting a huge ass fight that would endanger all of our lives… "Oh…well…hey then let's roll!" I clapped my hands enthusiastically, jumping up and strutting over towards the door I'd just come in through.

They all laughed at me, but I let it slide.

I couldn't believe that not only would I see Dimitri again, or that I wouldn't have to kill him, but that I was going to get him back. Finally, finally I would see his sweet smile, and all of that love and devotion in his eyes.

I was going to have a reason to exist again.

***

It surprised me a little when we rolled to a stop in front of the same house that Mason had been murdered in, but the surprise didn't last long.

I knew I wouldn't really be doing anything, but I was still gripping my stake tighter and tighter with each wave of nausea.

"There's got to be at least ten in there, are you sure you can handle this?" they glared at me like I'd offended their pride, and Eddy chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes then…"

I didn't feel right letting Alina go in first, because she was the youngest. But oddly ironically enough, she was definitely the most deadly among us.

We kicked the door down and were overwhelmed by the shadows that leapt from the room. In the front room alone there were nine strigoi, and I could tell that more of them were hidden else where.

They were surprised to see us, and they all got ready to jump us. As the first one made a leap they all froze, staring at space with horror struck expressions. Lissa chuckled, and I patted her on the back.

While they stood there helpless, I and Eddy shifted around staking each of them effortlessly. "This is actually too easy," I muttered as another two strigoi ran at us and froze. "I've been killing these things the hard way for weeks, it feels wrong to only have to strut around and stab them where's the fun?"

"Yeah, but hey it's easy at least." Eddy agreed. I nodded with him.

I was growing more anxious with every strigoi we staked. The nausea was fading each time, but we still hadn't found Dimitri.

When the nausea disappeared completely, we all started at the bodies on the ground, totally dumb-found.

"There's none left," I was almost in tears already. I turned on Alina, "You said he was here!" I screamed, falling to the ground and letting the tears escape.

"It doesn't make any sense," she murmured, clearly stressing out with confusion. "He's still here! I just…"

"Wait!" I threw myself onto my feet – literally- and started running towards the stairs that lead to the basement at full speed, stake in hand. The others were close behind me, alert and ready.

I kicked every door down, investigated every room right up until we came to the cell that we were held in…

We all fell silent as I stuck my ear to the door, listening for any sign of life. I heard a very light noise that sounded almost like a sob, and then I bust the door open, leaving a large dent in the metal.

Nobody else moved once we saw what was inside…

The walls were red from blood, and the room was almost completely empty.

Almost.

In the centre of the room was a single chair. On that chair sat a blood stained man wearing a leather cote that looked like a duster. His arms and legs and neck were all tied to the chair, and the chair appeared to be made of metal.

"Just kill me! If your back there is no more reason to fight! Kill me now, do I-" he began to yell; sounding very, very upset and pissed off. He cut short mid sentence when he flipped his eyes open though.

"D…Dimitri…" I breathed, hurling myself a cross the room towards him.

"Roza!" he called, struggling to free his arms.

Tearing were flowing from both his eyes and mine, and when I reached him I tore off the metal that was binding him, half impressed that I just tore through chains for him. "You're alive!" I sobbed, locking my arms around him and refusing to let go.

His arms wrapped around my waist like iron chains as he pulled me down to him. "You came for me," he breathed, the way he said it made it sound like he had doubted that I would for a moment. "When they said you were here I almost died. And then when you walked in, I-" he sucked in some air so he could continue. "I thought I'd lost you, I thought you were killed.

He grabbed my face almost roughly and stared into my eyes, not once blinking. After several long wonderful moments he whispered "I love you Roza, Now and forever." Then he crushed his lips to mine, and in that second, I felt like everything in the world was right again, like nothing could ever go wrong ever again.

I'd actually forgotten that we had company.

They cleared there throats mimicking-ly in almost the same moment, and it was followed by low laughter. About a minute later I and Dimitri managed to tear ourselves apart, only to embrace each other once more.

"I thought I'd lost you," I whispered into his ear, trying not to cry again. "I was coming to kill you, I thought you were turned…"

"Roza," he purred seductively into my ear while stroking my hair. "I was changed at first, but I didn't move. I just sat and wished I were dead," he kissed my ear before continuing. "I don't know what happened, but somehow I changed back. All I did was sit and pray for you and somehow, I was given you back." I felt a tear splash on my collarbone, and noticed that he was crying again. "You came back for me," he sobbed into my hair, and then we began to kiss again.

"Rose…Rose…wake up Rose…" a little nagging voice started to whisper in my ear, and I suspected it was a ghost.

I started swinging an arm around in the air, but I didn't open my eyes. "Piss off, I am awake," I roared at them.

"She's still a bitch, so that hasn't change…" the little nagging voice said again, but this time I recognized it. Christian.

I opened my eyes and turned around to smack him in the head, but I found myself in the school clinic once more, and by turning around I'd almost thrown myself off the bed.

How the fuck did I get here?

Something slapped me in the face hard. It wasn't a physical slapping, it was a mental one.

It was all just a dream…


	2. Chapter 2

"Ow…" I muttered, rubbing the back of my head, discovering I had a huge lump there. What the hell happened to me? I thought I'd just…what did I do? Faint? Pass out? I didn't think I'd hit anything, or been hit…

"And so sleeping beauty awakens," Adrian chuckled at his own joke. I hadn't missed him much…even know I really did owe him what ever 'success' I had. After all, I wouldn't have made it anywhere without the money he gave me.

"Rose!" Lissa breathed, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so glad you're okay!" her voice trembled, and I was almost sucked into her head with all of the mixed emotions pouring through.

"Hey Liss…what happened to me? And how long was I out…?" I should've known that little dream was too good to be true. How stupid could I be, to think that I'd actually get to keep Dimitri once I found him? Not stupid, desperate. Killing him was going to kill me, so hunting him down was practically suicide.

She pulled back, grabbing on to my hand and releasing the rest of me. "No-one really knows…Alberta and Alina said you just sort of blacked out after throwing a fit, when you collapsed you hit the door pretty hard…" well, that explains the lump. "And you've been out for about four days now,"

"Shit," I muttered at myself. "I'm never gonna find him at this rate!" I went to stand up, but I wobbled on my feet and collapsed back onto the bed. "Ow…" my head was spinning and my sight was all blurry.

"You need to _rest_," a gentle but wise voice chanted into my ear. She scared the absolute shit out of me.

I spun around to face her, ready to start screaming again. "Who are- oh, hey." It was Alina, and she was looking very concerned. "What's wrong?"

She seemed surprised that I asked her what was wrong. But why? "How can you see that?..." she mumbled, looking at me with a dazed expression.

"You look a lot like…your uncle, when you're upset; it kind of gives you away." I couldn't say his name aloud, so I settled for the term she used earlier.

"Right. Well it's nothing really, it's just he was right about you, which surprises me. I thought he was exaggerating…"

"Who? And what'd they say?"

"Uncle Dimka…w-when…after, after he was changed…he came to see me, and he told me I must come here, come here and become a guardian. And he told me I had to take care of you…that I had to make sure you didn't get yourself hurt. He said it would be hard because of your personality, because he knew how determined you were. But when I got here they told me you were gone…I failed him."

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting… "No, you didn't fail him. _I_ did." I'd almost forgotten why I was here, jeez. "Which is why I need your help…I was told that you could help me find him, can you?" I stared at her with what I suspected was a very desperate expression.

"I…but you'll…you'll kill him though, won't you? That's why you're looking for him, isn't it?" she looked very sad and hopeless as she said that, and it set my heart on fire to see it.

"What else can I do? It's what he would want. We talked abut it once, and he said he'd want me to kill him if that happened to him, just as I would. I-," I was crying now, and it made me feel so weak…I couldn't look at her while I was like this, I felt too shamed out. So I turned away, closing my eyes and letting the tears flow.

I hand brushed the back of my hair while another one picked up my hand. I felt a light tingling sensation, and then it was over. I wasn't in pain anymore, but tears still stained my cheeks. I thought Lissa must have healed me at first, but I would have felt the brightness of the life that flowed through her come through to me. Plus, when I opened my eyes I realized it was Alina holding my hand and not Lissa.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I forgot she specialized in spirit as well…

"Roz- err, I mean Rose. I…I _think_ I might be able to...bring him back. But, I've never tried it before, and I don't know if I can. So I'll make you a deal…you bring me with you and let me try and bring him back, and I'll tell you were to look. If I can't help him then…then you can do what you have to…but I just need to try. I can't let you kill him when there's still hope. I just can't…" she started crying, and I quickly brushed the tears back.

I nodded. "I know. Trust me on this one, I know. But what if you can't? What if I get you…killed? I'm a strigoi target now, and being with me is the exact opposite of safe. I couldn't risk getting you killed…" I was trying to do the right thing, but frankly I wanted her to come, I wanted her to try. But Dimitri wouldn't have wanted me putting his niece (in a way) in danger. If I let her get killed, then I would have failed him again.

She snorted. "Well that's my problem then, isn't it? Besides I can help you kill them. I specialized in fire, too ya know. It'll be easy. So whata' ya say? Are we a team?" she stuck her hand out, looking very confident about it.

It was probably the most stupid and reckless this I'd done in a while, but I grinned and grabbed her hand. "We're a team,"

"Hey," Eddie interrupted, "What about us? You can't just leave us here. I wanna' come to. I'll keep count of all the strigoi we kill so we know how many _molinja_ marks we need," he was both joking and serious at the same time. Serious about coming, joking about keeping count.

"Well," I perked up, trying to look smug. "I'm already about fifty strigoi ahead of you, so you'd better get to work.

All eyes widened when I said _fifty_, and Eddie's mouth dropped open. "_Fifty_? I thought you were just looking for _one_ strigoi!"

"What did you expect? That I'd just go kill…him and ignore the rest? I had to get some practice in anyway…plus fifty was just agues, I stopped counting after I got to half of that. After the first week I think," I'd probably killed a hell of a lot more then fifty strigoi, but there was no need to boast.

"Shit, you're not going to have enough neck left to fit anymore tattoo's. They'll have to make you another special one." Eddie was in awe, while the other were simply stunned. I didn't really think much about killing them anymore, so it took me a moment to remember that even if I was still at school that I wouldn't have even graduated yet and that I'd already slaughtered more strigoi then most of the people here would even see.

"It's no biggy. But um… I don't want to sound impatient or anything…but could we leave now? Cause' I'm fine thanks to Alina, and I'm already kind of behind on my training…"

"Training? You still train?" Eddie frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, the other strigoi I kill, you know the ones that aren't _him_. That's all they are." I stood up and trotted over to the door, they followed.

"I'll go get some clothes backed up, and then I'll meet you at the gates. Is Eddie coming?" Alina said as she peeked up at Eddie after she squeezed through the door.

"I…do you really want to? It really isn't safe being seen with me, I'm on the strigoi hit list." I said, turning to look at Eddie.

He blinked twice, then all but yelled "Hell yeah!" with more enthusiasm then necessary.

"What about me and Christian? We're coming too!" Lissa declared, but I wasn't having that.

"No. you're both staying here, okay? It'll be hard enough sneaking these two out and taking care of them outside. I'm not risking you like that Liss, no way in hell." I turned to Christian and shrugged. "I don't mind if he comes, we can use him as bait or something."

His eye literally twitched, and he started muttering things to low for me to hear. Everyone else started laughing, including Lissa.

"Lissa, once this is all over, I'll come back. I'll come back and I'll graduate and me and you'll be living it up at the royal court," I flashed a confident smile and snatched her up into a tight hug. "I promise." I whispered solemnly into her ear, and I felt the belief swell up inside of her. Man I hated lying to Lissa, but I knew that was probably the only real way I was gonna get out of here without her following along.

***

It was way easier then I thought it would be to sneak Eddie and Alina out, cause she had super awesome compulsion skills just like Lissa and Adrian. All she had to do was firmly and clearly state a demand and they moved aside, opening the gates wide. She didn't even need to make eye contact, nor stop walking.

"Well, that wasn't as hard as I'd expected. I had plans and everything. I was gonna knock them both out and figure out how to bust the gate down before we were swamped with guardians. And if we were swamped I was gonna hold a stake to _you're-_" I nodded towards Alina, "Throat and threaten to kill you if they didn't let us pass."

They both laughed at this, and Eddie murmured something along the lines of "Same old Rose," while Alina chuckled "All the stories were true," which hurt a bit, because I didn't know if she meant Dimitri's stories or the legends at school.

"So, where exactly are we headed? I thought he'd be somewhere in Russia, but I could never find him no matter where I searched." I frowned, annoyed at my lack of progress.

"Yeah he's in Russia. But he knew you'd be looking for him so he keeps moving. He lives by himself in a nice big house, and he feeds off the humans there. The towns name is Balashov, he's house is practically on top of the Khopyor River."

I grimaced. "I was in that town about a week before I showed up here, why didn't I find him? I found a house on the river that smelt like strigoi and I found three of them living in it. Sure, they're dead now but they didn't know anyone by the name of Dimitri. Or so they said…" shit! I should've known better then to trust a strigoi. Oh well, there dead now anyway. That thought made me smile a little.

"You killed Anton, Boris, and Georgy? But they were centuries old…I didn't think it was possible, but you're better then the stories say. Whoa, and that's saying something." Her eyes were wide as the scanned me, looking for some hint of a lie. "Oh and yeah, whenever he here's you're heading his way he takes off, goes into hiding. Apparently he saw you once, when he was hiding in a cave with a few other strigoi. He saw you get caught…" she sneezed and rubbed her nose.

"But then he saw you use a deodorant bottle to set the guy on fire or something, after you finished talking to him. He said the guy was trying to convince you to turn, but that he wouldn't, even know he promised that if he did that you'd be back with Dimitri… he was about to jump in to try and help, but he was scared that the memory that you would have of him would be of the monster he is now. He was happy when you burned the guy." She looked up and smiled. "He still loves you; you're the reason he's able to go on searching."

"How the hell do you know all this? Do you like meet up with him frequently or something?"

"He writes to me…he's not a monster yet Rose. He still has his humanity, but he's too afraid that he'll give in, so he doesn't want you to see him. I tried telling him to come see me so I could try and help him, but he thinks that he'll kill me, because I'm _technically_ a Moroi." She scowled, clearly not pleased with this. "I think I'm more dhampire then Moroi, if I didn't have the magic then I would be. I don't need blood, which is pretty weird but I think it's cool. I tasted it once though…it was an accident though." she pursed her lips at the memory, frowning at something in the distant past.

"How do you accidently bite someone?" Eddie wondered, joining in the conversation.

"I was in the middle of…a make out session we'll call it. The dipstick I was kissing crushed my foot and I went t clench my teeth, almost took off his lip. It taste pretty good, but it's not necessary, soi don't waste the supplies. Makes me stronger too, but oh well." She shrugged it off like this was all old news to her, mean while I almost hit a tree from laughing so hard.

"You bit a guy while you were making out?" I managed to choke out between my cackles. She blushed deeply and crossed her arms in a very stubborn matter, turning her head away to stare out the window.

The nauseous feeling slapped me in the face and I pressed down on the peddle at me foot. "Shit!" there was a loud screeching noise as one of the strigoi started clawing at the side of the car.

"Rose what the fuck is that!?" Eddie was panicking now, gripping his stake tightly and sitting over Alina in a very defensive matter.

"I told you it wasn't safe! They know my number plate! Stay the fuck down and keep her under you!" I roared, hitting the accelerator until it almost smashed through the floor. I swerved down the first road I saw, not giving a shit where it lead. It was the biggest mistake I'd made. Two more strigoi were standing in the middle of the road, bracing themselves for the impact. There was no point in swerving, so instead I pulled on my 'special' gloves, and pulled my stake out."You stay in the car no matter what, got it? The instant I'm out of the car you drive Eddie, get her away from here!"

"But Rose you-" he began protesting.

"Don't bother Eddie, I can take them. You just get her safe," I tossed him a radio, and he nodded. "I'll call when you can come pick me up. But you keep driving." With that I smashed the front windscreen; I leapt out onto the front of the car. When we were about 10 meters away from the strigoi ahead of us I jumped.

I would have called it cool if it wasn't so suicidal.

The instant I made contact with the first strigoi I pulled it out of the way, knocking the other one off to the side in the same movement. I definitely caught them both by surprise, and I didn't criticize them for it. What sort of suicidal freak jumps at two blood thirsty monster off a moving car? Not to mention the fact I was hopelessly outnumbered. Having the element of surprise was very, very good though, and I managed to stake the first one with no restraint at all. The second was almost as easy, but the nausea remained.

I threw myself to my feet and braced myself for the next lot. I didn't know how many they were, but I was still pretty confident I could take them all.

"Calm yourself little dhampire. We just wish to talk to you…" the phrase _little dhampire_ caught me off guard, and I found myself being pinned to the ground by two strigoi while another strutted up to start some sort of conversation. A fourth walked over, but his face was cloaked.

"Get your dirt undead hands off me!" I growled, thrashing against there holds on my arms. If I could just land a punch with these gloves on, then I'd be able to 'knock' one out. I had them made especially for this kind of situation. The gloves I had on were –like a stake- fused with magic from each of the four elements. They weren't as deadly as a stake, but that knocked strigoi out for a good ten minutes.

But kick and struggle I may, they didn't flinch even once. "You said TALK not PIN ME DOWN AND FEED!" I roared, thrashing harder against their holds. All of them seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit. All of them except for the guy in the cloak. The set of his lips – which I could only just get a glimpse of – was set in a sad grimace.

"You were right," the speaker mock punched the cloaked guys arm. "She is a fighter." He turned back to me and cleared his throat; even know it was totally unnecessary. "Well Miss Hathaway, you truly are just as all of the rumors said. Strong, fast, brave, dangerous… and mostly, you're quite beautiful. We did you reject Allan when he offered to let you become immortal?"

"Let me go dickwad or I'll rip your fucking head off!" I screamed, and at that moment, I managed to get a hand freed. They didn't seem to panicked as to this, but I grinned in triumph as I smashed the bitch that lost grip on my arm hard in the face, sending her flying backwards screaming 'it burns'. I started laughing. "Oh you're fucked now," I grinned, swinging my still-free-fist around to knock the other one off my arm.

The cloaked guy actually seemed happy to see me freed, but at the same time he looked very nerveous.

"Rose, you still alive?" Eddie's anxious voice came through in a buzz.

"Yeah, don't distract me though!" I quickly pressed the reception button so he'd get the message.

"Why aren't they getting back up?" the speakers voice was slightly panicky as I started advancing towards him in battle mode with my stake gripped tightly and pulled back into my chest.

I smiled my sweet-but-evil smile, and started wiggling my fingers. "My gloves have been fused with the elements; your buddies are already dead. Why not come along quietly?" my voice was menacing innocent as I purred the words.

"We honestly just wanted to talk to you! We've got a message from Belikov!" the cloaked guys head twitched as he mentioned Dimitri's name, and I straightened up to listen. I didn't let my guard down, though.

"Okay then talk. Where is he and why is he running?" I demanded, advancing another step.

He flinched back slightly from my close proximity, and I smiled slightly at seeing an ancient strigoi actually fear a 'little dhampire'. "Well-"

"Err, hold on," I backed away from him and then started jogging backwards towards the first one I punched, never taking my eyes off them. I staked her then started side steeping towards the other one, still watching him. "Sorry, they would've woken up if I waited to long." I steeped back towards him. "Please, continue." I waved my hand, indicating he was free to talk now.

He scowled, but continued. "First of all he sends his love," another little piece of my heart crumbled off at the sides when he said that, but I was 99% that I didn't give anything away. "Second he wants you to go back to Lissa, and third he gave me a few questions for you. Are you willing to answer?"

"There's really no point," I took another step towards him, crouching back into attack mode. "Because once you're finished talking I'm going to kill you, so you won't be able to tell him the answers. Unless of course, I might give you a message to return to him, then you'd be of use. I think that's fair, don't you? Go ahead and ask away."

"…Well, he wants to know how you are, and how you're coping with life." He paused, waiting for my answers.

"I guess…I should probably pass those, I don't want to make him unhappy by telling him the only reason I can carry on living is because I still have to kill him, like he once told me he'd want me to if he turned strigoi. and I probably should tell him that killing him is just like committing suicide, but…woops…" I pointed my stake at him, inching closer. "You say a word of what I just said and I'll pry your eyes out with my claws, got it?"

He nodded once. "Next question, if-"

Eddie's voice coming through the radio made us all jump. "Rose you still alive?"

"Yes Eddie, I'm still alive. Didn't I tell you not to distract me? _If_ I don't contact you that means I'm dead. If I'm dead, you take Alina _straight back to the academy._ So stop bugging me I'm trying to talk!" I sighed and looked back up at the dazed strigoi. "Sorry about the interruption, please continue."

"Right," he shook his head in a clearing motion. "He would like to know this: if you find him, will you go back to the academy and finish your life the way you are supposed to, or commit suicide?" he glanced over at the cloaked guy, he seemed to be anxious.

"I promised Lissa I'd go back, so I'll be going back once i've either killed him, or my friend saves him." I turned at thecloak guy, scowling. "There's something weird about you, but I don't know what. Were you that guy that bailed out on his mates in the cave back in Sponkane?" he ignored me, but I don't think it was intentional. "Hey you there, the cloaked wonder," he turned to face me, but seemed to be facing the ground. "Are you that guy that bailed out on his mates in the cave back in Sponkane?" I asked again.

He shook his head. "We haven't met," he mumbled so low I could hardly hear him. That voice sent chills down my back.

"Right… well I guess you'll never meet anyone again anyway." I crouched down, preparing to spring. " I honestly couldn't be bothered with-"

"can we come get you yet?" Eddie's voice buzzed again.

"Oh my god Eddie fuck off!" I screamed and he went quiet. When I turned back to see the two strigoi that I'd been talking two, they were both retreating into the forest. "Damn it!" I roared. I pressed the reception button, preparing to start screaming at Eddie for making me let the other two get away.

"Ugh! You just totally screwed this up, Eddie! They got away while I was _distracted_! They knew Dimitri…" there was something very creepy and weird about the guy with the cloak, but I let it go.

"We're already on our way back to get you, o just keep your eyes open."

"Drive fast and be careful. They could come after you. I'll start running to meet up with you," I started jogging in the direction that they'd sped off. "See you soon." I muttered.

I could tell that cloak boy and big mouth were still close because I could still feel the slight nausea. "I know you're out there big mouth! Stop perving on me and either confront me or go tell Dimitri what you know!" jeez, strigoi were getting less and less scary with every kill. It used to be me running away from them, now it was them running away from me, which was just ridiculous. "I can't believe the Moroi live in fear of pussy's like you!" I called out to them, hoping I'd piss them off and they'd come at me.

I could just make out faint Russian voices in the trees, and because I was concentrating so hard on them, I ran straight into the car. "Ow…" I mumbled, dragging myself around to the passenger seat. "You could've beeped or something." I complained accusingly at Eddie, who was laughing that hard that he was crying. "Shut up and drive," I ordered in a harsh tone. "They're watching us so there's still danger. If they attack again I'm throwing you out as a distraction." My threat had him speeding along the road without hesitation.

"How to you know they're still out there?" Alina asked with curiosity evident in her voice.

"I…I don't really know. I can just sort of feel them in my stomach. I just have a gut feeling. I get all nauseous with the closer they get." I explained, and she frowned in confusion before leaning back in her seat.

"How many were there?" Eddie asked.

"Six. I killed four but two got away." I sent him a murderous glare. "The old guy had information. I was gonna get it out of him and then send the freaky cloaked guy off to go give Dimitri my message." I pursed my lips. "Lots of people seem to know him…" I sighed, leaning back into my seat. "Wake me up when we get there." I said, and less then I minute later I was unconscious.

And then Adrian showed up.

We were out in the sunlight, walking through a meadow. I wore an almost see through white tank top and some _very_ short denim short shorts. I black boots that went to just under my knee, and around my thigh I hade two silver stakes strapped down, one on each leg. I was wearing my elbow length silky black gloves, - the ones that were deadly against strigoi. There were straps that went across the front part on my body, and on my back was a very sharp looking axe and a can of gas that had a lighter attached to the front: a flame thrower. One of the straps that ran over my body wrapped around my waist, and in it was yet another silver stake, and some very small silvery looking knives.

I looked deadly.

"Man I wish I had shit like this," I muttered, checking out all my gear.

Adrian grinned. "I thought you'd like that, you look like one of them soldier babes off those assassin movies. It's hot."

I chuckled, "Why don't you mail me stud like this? I'd probably be nicer to you then…" I suggested, but I was only kidding.

Adrian's expression turned sheepish all of a sudden. "Well err…there might be a couple of packages waiting for you when you wake up at the hotel…" he scratched the back of his head, trying –and failing- to look innocent.

"No way! Are you serious!?" I was all but jumping up and down with excitement. I'd be absolutely lethal with that sort of shit.

"Yeah, Eddie helped me pick the stuff out a while ago now. I got him a set two. But I got you three different sets, incase they get broken and stuff. I ordered a pair for Alina yesterday two, so they should be at the Balashov hotel when you wake up. Lissa helped me pick out sizes."

I couldn't hold myself back. I jumped at him and he all but shat himself, obviously thinking I was attacking him. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed hard. When he realized I was hugging him he chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Thank-you sooooo much!" I squealed, sounding very much like a very immature two year old.

He chuckled, hugging me tighter. "You are nicer when I buy you presents. You have to go wake up now, but we'll talk again soon. Bye," his voice faded out as my eyes fluttered open.

"She's awake," Alina called to Eddie.

He rushed over, grinning widely. "Sur-" he began, but I cut him off.

"No surprise, where are the presents Adrian sent me?" I sat up glancing around the room. He gave me a look that said 'what the fuck?' and I chuckled. "He told me in my dream, and he told me you helped or something so thanks, but where are they?" he pointed down towards his feet where three large boxes sat.

"No strigoi will ever mess with you again," he grinned widely, helping me rip the top off the first box.

"They don't mess with me now. Get geared up, I want to go find Dimitri." I brushed him off as I turned to Alina. "Did you get…?" I didn't need to finish my question because she was already dragging a box over towards me. "Right, let me help." I jumped up and went to help her.

"Thanks," she said smiling. "We're gonna look so wicked in this stuff," she giggled as we ripped the top off her box.

"Hell yeah!" I shouted as I started pulling items out of the box.

The first item I picked out was the boots. They were just as awesome looking in reality as they were last night, but this time I noticed I tiny little lump on the bottom of the boot near the toe. I tried to push it back in, thinking he'd sent me damaged goods, but as I pushed it a very flat knife stuck out of the toe and almost took out my left eye. "Shit, that's gonna be wicked cool in a fight," I beamed, pushing the lump little button again.

***

Once we were all fully geared up we realized we had a slight problem: we looked to conspicuous.

"We need cloaks or really long jackets," Alina mumbled, annoyed that we couldn't just strut down the street looking both deadly and sexy at the same time.

My grim expression brightened up at that. "Hey, yeah. Let's get some cloaks! That'd be pretty cool, and we wouldn't be as noticeable." I'm pretty sure we all felt like total badass movie character's in the gear we had on. And just like in all the movies, as soon as she mentioned cloaks all I could do was picture: me, strutting into a bit house full of strigoi in a long black cloak, ripping it off and going on a killing spree.

"But then we have to take it all off…" Eddie mumbled. It took him a lot longer then it took Alina and me to get ready. In the end we had to help him put everything where it was supposed to go.

"No we don't," Alina perked up as she eyed the computer sitting on the desk to the east of the room. "We can order them!"

***

An hour later we'd finished scanning the internet, and we had a trolley boy knocking on our door with our recently purchased super cool cloaks. We'd also ordered in some small handguns, simply because there was two little spaces left on the straps across the back that looked like they'd fit perfectly in there.

We'd scared the hell out of the trolley boy when we opened the door. He took one look at us, dropped the box and ran.

"Thanks!" I called back after him, chuckling as I stepped through the door.

"Alright, so Alina you're gonna show us the way, then we're all gonna go in through different sides of the house just incase there's more then Dimitri living there, if there is then I'll be able to tell you. If you se a strigoi don't hesitate to set it on fire, because they won't hesitate to rip your throat out. You kill every strigoi you see unless it's Dimitri. If it's Dimitri signal me with your radio's, got it?" I was running through our plan one last time as we walked down the hotel heading for the new car we'd had to buy, seeing as the strigoi busted up my last one.

"Got it." Hey both said at the same time. The new car we had was better looking then the last one, and it had a badass sound system.

"This is really it…" I mumbled as we slid into the car. "Well, hopefully at least." I turned to Alina, and she nodded.

"There's gonna be at least six of them…" she pursed her lips, annoyed at this.

Shit. Could they handle this? "I…Are you sure you guys can handle this? I mean you haven't even graduated yet Eddie, and you're just finishing up your elementary school time."

I started the car and took off while Alina mumbled directions.

"We can take this, right Alina?" Eddie was clearly worried that I'd drop them off here and take off on my own, and I didn't blame him for worrying about that, because that's exactly what was running through my mind.

"Yeah," she said.

I contemplated that for several moments before deciding. "Okay fine. You can still come, but there's a change in plans. You two are going to go in the front _together_, when I give the signal. Or you can wait exactly one minute before following after. Take your pick."

They frowned, not very happy about being left out of the action.

"Okay then fine. I got a better plan. We'll all go through the front door. Its daylight so if we need to we can bunk outside until it's safe. Deal?" I gave them the third option, and they seemed to be sucking it all in happily.

They glanced at each other. "Deal," they said.

When we arrived at the place Alina had directed me to, we stopped the car. I ran the plan through them again.

"Rose?" Eddie muttered once we got out of the car and pulled out or flame-thrower can things in one hand, while gripping silver stakes in the other. "If…If I die… you've got to promise me that you'll tell my parents I loved them, okay?"

It hurt me to think that he thought I'd let him die under my watch. I frowned. "I won't let you die, Eddie. But yeah I promise. But you have to promise me that if I tell you to run, that you'll run, and that you'll take Alina with you. Promise me." I stared him down, hoping I looked as fierce and determined as my mother and Dimitri used to.

He frowned, but nodded. I could see that it hurt him to say that he'd abandon me, and I prayed that he wouldn't do what Mason did… "I promise."

I glanced at Alina, and she gave me a nervous smile. The sunlight shining off her hair showed that she had very faint crimson streaks in her hair. I frowned in confusion. "You're Moroi, aren't you?" I asked her.

She looked puzzled. "I guess so, why?"

"Doesn't the sunlight hurt you?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh, no. that's another thing that I think makes me more dhampire then Moroi." She smiled again.

"Oh, right. Okay you ready?" She nodded one firm bob of her head, and gripped her stake tighter. The nausea grew worse and worse with the closer we got.

An awesome course of action occurred to me when I spotted how big the windows were. Sure they were all tinted, but they couldn't keep out the sun if we broke them. I pulled out one of my pistols and shot out each of the windows, scaring the shit out of both Eddie and Alina.

"What the hell Rose?" Alina hissed.

I chuckled. "I was letting in a little sunshine. Then we'll have safe spots that we can stand without being ripped to shreds."

Eddie beamed. "Brilliant, Rose. Truly brilliant."


	3. Chapter 3

The front door was a double door, and it was huge. But with all the strength of all three of us combined we managed to look freaking awesome when we kicked the door down. There were a lot of hisses as the strigoi that were waiting the pounce on us got hit by the sun light.

"We should have left last night!" a female strigoi hissed to another, glaring at us like we were some evil force from hell, come to destroy their innocent lives.

"There was no time, we would have been trapped by the light!" a male voice hissed back at her.

"It's only three kids with stakes, we can handle them!"Another male voice hissed, trying to sound confident.

"Yeah but look at their leader!" another female hissed, jabbing a cold white finger in my direction. "That bitch took out half of the Montana population! The leftovers scattered across the country!"

A smug feeling settled over me, it was a natural feeling brought up whenever these so called 'deadly' strigoi showed how truly afraid they were of me.

"We aren't kids with stakes." I murmured to them, and they all fell silent. "We're kids with a hell of a lot of shit that's pretty fucking deadly." I growled, peeking over both my shoulders to see that both Eddie and Alina were about to rip their cloaks off.

"Like what? Maybe you have _two_ stakes." A female voice taunted.

Off went the cloaks. All three of us ripped them off sinuously, looking just as badass as we must have looked. "Nope, we got _three _stakes. And you'll just have to wait and find out what else." And with that the fire ripped out, setting them all on aflame instantly.

They started screaming in pain while trying to pat themselves down, looking rather ridiculous as they did so.

We waited for the fire to go out, and when they did five of the six strigoi were already dead. What a bore…

"Aw man," Eddie whined. "We get all dressed up to go out and kick some ass, and all we gotta' do is light em' all up!" we went to stake a step forward into the darkness, and Justas he did the nauseous feeling crashed on me harshly.

"Eddie get back!" I jumped in front of him and knocked him backwards. But before I could get back into the safety I was piled on, literally.

"Rose!" Alina and Eddie screamed, taking a step forward.

"No!" I screamed at them struggling to regain my breath. "You promised Eddie! Get the fuck out of here!"

"But-"

"GO! NOW!" I roared, and they flew back out the door.

I failed.

I failed both Eddie and Alina by promising this would be simple. I failed Adrian by promising I'd give him a chance when I got back. I failed Lissa by promising her I'd come back for her and be her guardian. I failed myself by promising myself that I would save Dimitri from the monster he'd become. But what hurt the most, what hurt more then knowing I'd failed myself, was knowing that I'd failed Dimitri. I'd failed him in many ways. I failed him by leaving the academy. I'd failed him by throwing away my future. And most of all, I'd failed to kill him. Failed to save him from what he'd become.

Failing Dimitri made me feel as if I deserved the death that was piling on top of me, so I welcomed it almost warmly at the same time that I was thrashing around trying to get them off of me.

"You'll crush her! Get off!" roared a voice that was the sweetest sound my ears had ever heard.

"No way!" they all started chanting.

"Получите трахание от нее теперь, или я убью Вас всех! (translated: get the fuck off her now or I will kill you all!)" Dimitri roared, and I could feel the pile getting lighter as he started kicking them all off, one by one.

"трахните Вас! (Translated: fuck you!)" they roared back. I had no idea what the last two roars were about because I sure as hell didn't speak Russian, but I was guessing that they weren't being very friendly with each other. I did know that 'трахните' was a Russian swear word, but Dimitri never taught me what it meant.

Dimitri had managed to get enough of them off me that I could move my left foot, and just barely twitch my left arm. But the foot was enough to get rid of a few others, seeing as I had my wicked press-the-button-and-a-magic-infused-silver-dagger boots on.

I kicked one of the strigoi and I felt the knife jab out into something hard. The motion was followed by a scream, and I felt my other leg get freed, and the pressure on my waist lessened a little.

"The bitch stabbed me!" she roared with an enraged voice. I would have started laughing if I had the space in my lungs.

"She couldn't stab you Shanice, we've got her arms pinned." A strained female voice choked out.

"There's a silver dagger on her fucking boot!" she screamed back at them, and I felt the weight on my left arm lessen again. I could just about move my arm around and spray them all with fire if I could just stab another one.

I could feel them trying to rip my boots off, but naturally they couldn't really touch them at all because of the magic. But while they were down there I managed to kick one of them in the face, and she screamed out in pain.

"Get the fuck off me!" I screamed as I pushed another one off me with my shoulder. And that there was all I needed; I had enough space to set them on fire. "Dimitri, MOVE!" I growled, and moments later the strigoi closest to me was retreating, covered in flames.

It was really stupid though, because I burnt my arm as well. I snapped my teeth together and yanked out one of the stakes that was on my leg. I stabbed the one on top of me, and when it got up to run I was able to roll away from the rest. Without a single moment of hesitation I turned towards them, lifting the gas-can-lighter-flame-thrower thing up in front of me and pressing the 'spray' button on top.

I couldn't help but treat myself with a single smart ass comment, so I didn't make it long and stuck with the already used, "Feel the burn!" I dashed over to where one of the broken windows was letting the sunshine pour in, and pulled out three of little five centimeter hairpin size mini silver stakes. I didn't have perfect aim, but I wasn't bad. And the only ones I had to worry about were the ones that weren't screaming in pain and burning on the floor, and the ones that weren't in that condition were standing only a meter away, which makes it kind of hard to miss.

But I had to be careful, because I didn't know where Dimitri was…which was going to be a problem. "Dimitri? Dimitri where are you? I know you're here damn it! I brang someone that could help you, so get away from here now. Or I'll kill you." My voice trembled with the 'I'll kill you' statement, but I hoped he didn't notice.

I managed to take out two of the rapid-looking strigoi in front of me before the others noticed what was happening. The way I was laughing probably made me sound like some homicidal maniac, but I guess in a way I sort of _was_ a homicidal maniac. If you include strigoi, that is.

There were only three of them left, and I recognized two from last night. There was the guy that liked hearing himself talk, and the creepy cloak dude. And of course there was a little blonde girl that was looking at me like I was the most evil creature to ever walk the planet, so I flashed her a sweet style Rose grin, and she hissed back at me. Judging by the hole in her face, she was the one I hit earlier.

"Temper, temper," I muttered towards her.

"Look what you just did to my FACE!" she growled, risking another step in my direction.

"I should be a plastic surgeon, huh? Seeing as I did just _fix_ your face."She narrowed her and took another cautious step towards me. Big mistake.

"Why don't you come out of the sunlight and say that?" she was quite obviously trying to be persuasive, and she was failing pretty badly.

"Because I can't see you properly in the sun, and I don't want my eyes to burn out of their sockets."

It took her a while to realize I'd just paid her out harshly on her appearance, and when she did she went to take another step forward and actually tripped over something. Clumsy bitch just handed me her cold ass on a platter.

I jumped the step forward and Justas she rolled over I staked her effortlessly, then jumped back into the sunlight, eyeing the two in front of me.

"Well done Rose," the talkative guy actually started clapping, which was pretty weird. "you actually managed to take out all of them, and there were more then ten of them here." He turned and poked cloak guy. "You really weren't kidding, were you?"

Cloak guy shook his head, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of his towering form. "D…Dimitri…?" I couldn't believe I didn't notice that immediately last night! I mean sure I knew something was different about him, but I didn't know…

He sighed and took a few steps forward, removing his cloak as he did so. The instant I saw his face I fell to my knees, crying. It hurt like a bitch too, considering that there was smashed glass all over the floor because I shot out the windows. The glass cut in to the skin on my knees, and I flinched.

"Roza! Get up there's too much glass!" Dimitri looked very helpless in the shadows, as if he wanted to run over into the sunlight and pull me up and hold me, to comfort me. Seeing that look of love and affection chiseled another piece of my heart away, but I stood up for him.

"It's you, it's really you." I sobered right up once I realized I was making a total fool of myself. I peeked out the window to see that the black car was still there, which meant Eddie and Alina were still here.

I hit the reception button to make sure they heard. "Alina! Come on he's here we can fix him now!" the instant I hit the reception button they were already crawling out of the car, and hearing that I had Dimitri pushed them into a near sprint as the approached.

I turned back to Dimitri. "This girl, you know Alina? She can help you; she can bring you back into the light, Dimitri! You have to let her please, please for me…" I was sobbing like a little baby again, and had to wipe away the tears again. I'd almost forgotten sir talks-a-lot. "You are you?" I pointed my stake in his direction.

"Rose…this is exguardian Davis, he was my mentor…" it was Dimitri that answered, and his answer brought me up short.

"_Your_ mentor? He's not gonna try and kill Alina or Eddie, is he?" I tightened my stance and he flinched back.

"I don't plan to hurt your friends Rose, Dimitri probably would've killed me if I did." He glanced up at Dimitri, and I saw him shudder a little.

"No, _I_ would kill you if you tried." I corrected him, and Dimitri shattered my world with one of his beautiful smiles. "You look like Dimitri, you sound like Dimitri, _and_ you smell like Dimitri's old aftershave. If you weren't all white and didn't have that red in your eyes, I'd be accusing you of pretending to be a monster." I smiled at him, and I could see him absorb it.

"Yes, but you still don't trust me, do you?" he grinned, amused at this. "You're still in the sunlight. And I don't blame you, I'd fear me, too." I could see the hurt in his face when he muttered out the word 'fear'.

I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I all but threw myself through the gap between me and him, and he hugged me closely when we made contact. "I love you, Dimitri. And I've missed you more then you could ever imagine…" I cried into his chest.

He wiped the tears off my face and started murmuring something into my ear in Russian. "I missed you too, Roza…" he tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear, and then hugged me closer.

"Rose!" Eddie squealed, panic evident in his voice. "Get off her!" he growled, steeping towards us aggressively.

"No! Eddie quit it, they're fine. This is Dimitri, and Dimitri's old mentor, guardian Davis. They won't hurt you." I said, and he calmed instantly.

"Uncle Dimka!" Alina squealed in delight. "Uncle Dimka I can help you!"

I wiggled out of his arms and let her do her thing. It hurt to let him go, but I got to keep his hand, so it wasn't unbearable. She hugged him briefly at first, but then she lifted a hand to his heart and asked me to let go of his hand.

"If you don't he'll probably crush your fingers, but that's your lose." She threatened when I wouldn't release his hand. But he released mine after that, and I scowled at her. "Alright uncle, this _is_ going to hurt. But it could only take a few minutes…" he nodded, and she placed her other hand on top of the first, in the perfect position over his heart.

When Dimitri started swearing in Russian, I was guessing that she was doing her healing thing. All I could do was watch as he cried out in pain and she was touching him. I would have ripped her off by the hair if they weren't related.

"How much longer?" Eddie muttered as he came over to stand beside me. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but shh! Don't talk, you might distract her."

Another two or three minutes passed before we started seeing any sort of difference. The difference was clear in both of them though, Alina was getting weak and Dimitri was getting his tan back. I couldn't see his eyes though.

"I don't know…how much longer…I can keep this up…" Alina choked out, sounding almost completely drained.

She needed energy. Which meant she needed food. But she was a vampire, so I had something more convenient to offer her. _It's not necessary, but it makes me stronger_ I heard her voice trail through my mind.

"Here, you need energy and I've got some for you." I stepped over to her side, giving her a clean bite to my neck.

"Ro-"

"Just do it! He's almost back!" she didn't hesitate after she saw the desperate look that was dominating my face. She didn't move her hands from Dimitri as she bit down into my neck. I cried out in pain briefly, but then the saliva kicked in. It was over within a minute, and I could feel the drugged up goofy smile pull up on my lips as I began stumbling backwards with a lack of coordination. Eddie caught me before I could fall over or hit anything though.

I lost track of the time, but my blood seemed to be enough for her to revive Dimitri with. She passed out after that though, and Dimitri had to catch her, which made me jealous. "H-how _come_ SHE get's to _be_ with demete!" I sounded pretty drunk when I said that, and I totally fucked his name up.

All the conscious ones just laughed at me. I watched curiously as Dimitri cautiously stepped into the sunlight.

"It…she really brought me back…" Dimitri murmured, studying his arm as the sunlight glittered of his perfectly tanned skin. I could feel the tears of joy running down my cheeks. He was right. He really was back.

I wanted to go spend some time with him, but luckily enough I managed to pass out after I saw that he was back.

***

"Where are we?" I yawned loudly and stretched like a cat, searching the car for Dimitri.

I felt his warm life filled arms wrap around my stomach, and I sighed in content before falling asleep again.

This time I was woken up, but I wasn't woken up on purpose.

"Sorry," Dimitri murmured into my ear. He was cradling me to his chest as we walked through the academy gates. "I didn't mean to wake you,"

I wrapped my arms around his chest. "I'm hardly awake," I mumbled, yawning again. "So don't worry." I closed my eyes again, smiling as I snuggled in closer to his chest.

I could here all of the students talking about us, well talking about me in particular. They knew I was there not long ago, but none of them really saw me.

"Is she okay?" Lissa's panicking feeling crashed into me before her voice did.

"I'm fine, Liss. Just tired…" I opened my eyes to see that there was a very large crowd of seniors stalking us to the clinic. Great…

"She's awake,"

"She's alive,"

"She looks like an assassin,"

"She's covered in blood," I could make out a few of the comments now, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm alive and I've got awesome ninja assassin clothes on, and yeah I'm covered in blood. Keep ya' panties on!" I called out to them in my loudest possible voice – which wasn't very loud at the time being – and I heard a few chuckles breakout among them. Along with a few comments like 'same old Rose' which pleased me.

When we got in to the clinic, we had a welcoming party made up of a few guardians, Kirova and Dr. Olendzki.

"Hey doc, long time no see!" I waved at Dr. Olendzki as Dimitri and I passed him, and he waved back.

I heard a few of the guardians gasp as they caught sight of Dimitri, and I couldn't hold back the grin that spread across my face. I was so content, sitting there in his arms, staring at his gorgeous brown eyes. Nothing could ruin this moment.

He looked down at me after a moment, feeling my eyes on him. When our eyes connected I saw the love in mine reflected in his, and I began crying again, hugging closer into he's hold.

It pissed me off when he put me down on one of the hospital beds, but I didn't complain because Alberta, Kirova, And Dr. Olendzki where also in the room.

"She was bitten," Alberta stated. "She could bedangerous."

"No," Dimitri shook his head. "Alina was healing m, bringing me back to life. And she needed the energy, so Rose made her drink from her. None of the strigoi got their fangs anywhere near her." His voice was saturated in pure pride as he went through the battle that he'd witnessed between me and –apparently there were fourteen- strigoi. When he was finished they were all left with their mouths hanging open.

"She took on _fourteen_ strigoi?" Alberta gasped, eyeing me suspiciously, like she half expected me to disappear if she looked away.

Dimitri nodded, and I couldn't help but murmur "I've had worse," which caused them all to stare me down again.

"Rose, how many strigoi have you killed while you were gone?" Alberta said in her all-business voice.

"Hey I lost count at thirty, and that was my first week. When you've got a temper like mine and you've trained by this badass, not to mention the determination to find and kill him," I poked Dimitri in the chest and he smiled. "You don't really bother counting how many you kill."

Alberta frowned, breaking out of her business mode slightly. "Well…we'll give you your latest fourteen kills in molinja marks, and we'll find another special one for the others you've killed."

"Oh," I frowned, confused. "I forgot about the marks…cool." I grinned, pleased to here I'd earnt another fifteen marks and I still hadn't even graduated yet.

"We'll have the ceremony tomorrow…and I'd better go notify the others so we can get set up." She nodded to us and left.

"So Miss Hathaway," Kirova cleared her throat and came to stand in front of me with her arms crossed. "Let me be the first to say," she stuck out her hand and smiled at me. "Welcome back."

I grinned up at her, taking her hand and shaking it. "So I guess that means I am aloud to finish my senior year?" I arched my eyebrow, something that Dimitri taught me a while ago.

"Yes, you'll be put back into your old schedule; we will organize your papers. You can start when you're ready." That was gonna save a hell of a lot of writing.

"Thanks, and I should be able to start tomorrow…" I murmured as she walked off.

Lissa came wheeling through the door, grinning very happily. Her emotions were that strong that I found myself staring down at myself, which was beyond weird. I pulled back into my own head before warning her not to hug me too tight, because I was still fragile.

She asked me where I hurt, and when I said everywhere she stuck her hand on my forehead, and healed me.

"All better!" she sang, hugging me as tightly as she could.

I frowned but hugged her back. "You shouldn't waste your energy on me, I would've been fine by tomorrow,"

She pulled back grinning with a smug expression. "Well, now you're better now, deal with it." She sat down on the bed next to me and took my hand. "You kept your promise," she grinned wider. "I didn't know if you were really coming back for me, but you did." A tear leaked out of her eye, and I was quick to wipe it away.

"I promised you, didn't I?" I patted her shoulder and stood up. "Well, this has been fun and all but I've got to go talk to Adrian about some things. I'll catch you guys later." I grabbed Lissa's hand as we walked out of the room, and I turned back briefly to catch Dimitri grinning at me.

"So what do you want to do?" Lissa asked.

"_Eat_, man I could eat a cow." I rubbed my stomach. "Do you-" I cut off midsentence when I pushed the door open. Everyone was still standing there, waiting for me to come out. And when they spotted me they started cheering loudly. "Shit…"

Lissa giggled. "What did you expect? You wiped out uncountable strigoi all by yourself, and managed to find Belikov and have Alina bring him back. Rose, you're famous. Not just here but every where, the queen was asking me if I thought I'd be able to convince you to go work for her at the royal court,"

My eyes widened. "But she hates me; she thinks I'm trying to 'corrupt' her precious Adrian." As if that snobby nosed bitch would want anything to do with me.

"Yeah, but she knows how deadly you are now."

"Okay whatever…I'm gonna be your guardian, not hers. And can we go eat now? I swear I'll pass out again…"

"If we can get through that," she waved her hand in front of us at the wall of students gathered to greet me.

I smirked. "I can take out _countless_ strigoi, but you don't think I can push my way through a bunch of novices?" I grabbed her hand and started walking towards them, grinning.

I greeted the ones that didn't move, but getting through was a lot earlier then i expected. Out of some sign of respect they all moved out of mine and Lissa's way, giving us a path through all of them.

"I think I'm going to like the rest of school," I grinned at Lissa, and she squeezed my hand.

Finally, life was getting brighter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks heaps for all the positive reviews guys! And here's the next chapter :)**

* * *

I'd been back for three days now, and it was time for some new-and-improved field experience or whatever.

I'd gotten my molinja marks, and the new mark they gave me was a small, crescent moon with a stake jabbed through it. I meant something like 'slayer of the night' which I decided to translate into murdering things that live in the night: strigoi.

People had finally stopped stalking me everywhere I went, but they still wouldn't shut up about everything. I always thought it'd be cool being a celebrity, but it sucked balls. I mean sure it was cool having everybody know me, and it was wicked having a badass reputation. but the whole getting-swamped-when-you-step-outside-your-dorm thing was getting real old real fast.

Alberta thought all the gear I had was a bit overdone, but she didn't dare try and confiscate them. Some of the guardians thought it was pretty wicked, but they wouldn't say it to me because they knew I'd go boasting.

"Alright!" Alberta called us all to attention. "The school has booked out a laser boxing arena, and we are taking _all_ novices down for a twelve hour training session. And yes I do mean _all_ novices, which includes you juniors." The juniors cheered her on, happy to finally be included in some of the upper class trainings.

"You will be separated into groups of four. Each group will contain two seniors, and two juniors. If these groups should separate into two's for a 'surprise' attack, then a senior must stay with a junior. We will assign you all into pairs, and then you can group together."

Dimitri stepped forward with a list of names and started calling them all out one by one. "Rose Hathaway, you are paired with Tamika Zaphyre." Was the only part I was listening too. I heard a girl squeal from somewhere behind me, and sighed in frustration, guessing that was my partner in crime. "Go find your partners, then sit back down in your pairs and listen for further instructions."

"Right," I muttered standing up. "Where-"

"Oh, my, gawd!" a squeaky little voice chimed from behind me. "I can't believe that I got Rose Hathaway as my partner!" she giggled as I turned around. Well…finding her didn't take as long as I thought.

"Err, hi. I guess you're Tamika?" I stuck out my hand and she grabbed it enthusiastically, shaking it a little harder then necessary.

"We are so gonna kick butt!" she squealed and sat down, pulling me down with her.

I surpressed a sigh, trying not to offend her. Why the hell did I have to be paired with the squealing school girl? "So, what skills do you have?" I asked her. If I was gonna be stuck with her, I could at least try and use her strengths.

"Well umm…I'm good with close combat usually, and I can climb up things like drain pipes for sneak attacks. And I've got a perfect aim with a gun, too." She smiled, pleased with herself.

"Okay then, when we get there we'll see if there's any secret entry points we can slide in through, I'll lure an opponent up and we'll jump them." it was the only tactic I could really think of. "How good are you with close combat?"

"Well I'm top in most of my classes." She giggled. "All the 'big tough' guys get really pissed when they get there butt's whooped by a girl as small as me."

I laughed with her. "Yeah, trust me _I know_. Okay well then. Its laser boxing, which means that we'll be wearing vests and other little padded items that all hook up to a counting system that keeps count of how many hits you get. They get set so that after a certain amount of damage has been reached that the person is 'dead'. So you just have to aim for the patches. Stick with me and we'll be fine." Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Everyone was sitting down with their partners now, and Alberta was up explaining the rules.

"Each of you will be given a set of clothing that contains a strap on vest, strap on thigh, knee, and shin pads, elbow pads and gloves. You are not to hit anybody above the shoulders, and girls please have mercy on the gentlemen that would feel pain for a bellow the belt hit. You will also have a laser tag pistol. If you managed to get a dead shot on the heart of your opponent, then their life points will hit zero and they will be 'dead'.

"Each gun consists of the shots, souse them wisely. The boxing skirmish is currently being set up in a very large abandoned warehouse, and some of the forest that surrounds it. If you go outside of the gated area, you will lose half your life points. For the first six hours of the exercise you will be fighting your peers. After that a fog horn will be released, you will be given ten minutes to organize yourselves and us guardians will then be your enemies. There will be fifteen guardians, and if you manage to wipe us out before we wipe you out, then another horn will be sounded and you can go back to fighting each other.

"Guardian Belikov will explain the rest." Alberta went to go stand with the others while Dimitri strolled up with a huge ass grin on his face, which was very unlike him.

"Okay. Well I _am_ supposed to give you words of wisdom to encourage you to do your best during this exercise. But I think bribery would work better. The winner of the exercise – with or without their partner still standing – will earn themselves _and_ their group free pizza and soda on us for a week." Dimitri nodded in all of our directions, still grinning.

There was a collective "hell yeah" and "Woo hoo" through the crowd, and I joined in.

I turned to Tamika, grinning. "That pizza's gonna taste sweeter then the victory itself," I said.

"So you think we're gonna win?" she asked, straightening up in her seat.

"No, I don't _think_, I _know_. But I'll wait until we grab a partnering pair before I explain my flawless plan." I turned around, searching the gym for Eddie. "Eddie!" I called once I found him.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"You gonna join me and Tamika?" I called back again, gesturing between Tamika and myself.

"Hell yeah! My little buddies names Jackson." He said, pointing at the muscular boy sitting beside him.

I waved at him, grinning. He looked surprised to see me being so friendly at first, but then he sobered up and waved back, grinning a cheek wrinkling grin.

"right then, we got Eddie, so we aren't gonna have any problems." I told Tamika.

"You have half an hour to get ready and meet us back here in your groups!" Dimitri announced, dismissing us.

"What should I wear?" Tamika asked, frowning with worry.

I chuckled. "Got any camo gear?" I raised my eye brows.

"Yeah, I got camo three quarter pants, but I don't have a top…"

"Okay, where a black, white or dark green tank top with the three quarters pants, and wear shoes that you'll be able to climb, run and fight in. Okay?"

She nodded and hurried off to go get ready. I rushed over to Eddie to tell him that we had a uniform sort of thing to wear.

He agreed and told Jackson what to wear as well; luckily we all had some sort of camo pants and tank tops. Jackson didn't seem too pleased that we'd be doing some sort of climbing, but he went along quietly.

I dressed in gray and dark green camo pants and a dark green cropped tank top, and settled for my green All Stars.

"That's a good look for you Rose; you'd make a good solider." Eddie said as we walked back down to the gym.

"I am a soldier Eddie, don't forget that." I poked him in the kidney and skipped sideways to avoid his counter poke. "Too slow Eddie," I chuckled.

"There they are!" I heard Tamika's voice trail over to me just as she and Jackson showed up at my shoulder.

"That look suit's you Rose!" Tamika complimented me, and Eddie grinned, giving me the I-told-you-so look of triumph.

"Thanks, suits you too." I glared at Eddie, but he knew I was just mucking around.

"Okay, so I know what Tamika can do. But I'll have to know what you can do before I finalize our plan, Jackson. What skills you got?"

"One on one hand in hand combat," he glared playfully at Tamika. "But she flogs me and all the other juniors at that. I've got a decent aim, and I've totally mastered the skill of running away."

Tamika giggled. "Yeah, no-one's gonna out run Jackson. Especially when he's running for pizza."

"Alright then…here's what we'll do: Once everyone's inside we'll find some secret way in, but it'll probably involve climbing… once were in we can wait out as much as we can and prepare ourselves. When everyone's tried, me or Eddie will start luring them up one by one and we'll jump them. Don't waste your three bullets until we're facing the guardians. And when the horn goes I'll find us a high up point where we can pick them off one by one, Tamika that'll be your job. Seeing as you've got a perfect aim.

"Jackson, if worst comes to worst and we all die, use your awesome bailing out skills and run the border line of the forest that's been fenced off. It'll be your job to keep out group alive if we all die off. I want that pizza. Okay do we all understand? We can run through it again during the waiting them out stage."

They all nodded in agreement. This was gonna be a piece of cake if everything goes as planned.

"Alright students. Once you're on the bus we'll start handing out equipment and supplies. We forgot to mention that you will be carrying a backpack with food water and some minor first aid. The senior in the pair will be caring the first aid, and if the senior dies then it will be handed down to the junior. Do not forget that this exercise is only planned to go for twelve hours at the _least_. At the most you will be out there for twenty-four hours. If we have more then one student left by then we will continue the exercise at the school in a match off boxing round in the school gym. You may board the buses." That sounded overly awesome, having an entire day off school just to run around playing skirmish laser tag and try to win all-week-round pizza and soda.

Once we were on the buses and heading towards our destination, we were handed our equipment and supplies as Alberta promised. We were all dressed and packed by the time the buses arrived.

"You have ten minutes before we sound the horn, once the horn is sounded you will be fighting. If you are not in the hall within those ten minutes half your life points will be deducted. Your time starts now."

I'm sure me, Eddie, Tamika, and Jackson were all thinking that waiting for everyone to be inside would look suspicious. But everyone ran straight inside without even thinking about it, so our sneaky entry wouldn't even be noticed. We jogged over to the side of the warehouse where an old wooden staircase that leads up to a door. Next to that door was a drain pipe that leads up to a third story window that had a half open half boarded down window with a decent sized ledge: our sneaky entry point.

I explained to them that was how we get in; Jackson grimaced but decided to go along with it. Tamika was overly keen though.

"I'll go up first and secure a rope to make sure you guys can get up safely," sure it was an awesome entry, but it was a downright deadly fall, too. "If I fall and die, tell Lissa I'm sorry," I smiled sarcastically as I started pulling myself up the drain pipe, which was definitely easier said then done.

It only took a minute to get up there though, and on the inside I could see a sturdy looking metal railing to tie the rope to. It was quite handy that they gave us ropes in the supply kit.

Once I secured the rope to the railing, I went to the window to signal for them to begin the climb. Tamika went flying straight up the wall and slid through the window and behind a stack of old crates. Jackson followed her so that Eddie could be down there to make sure that is he fell that he could catch him.

Once we were all safely hidden on the third floor balcony and had collected up and packed my rope away, I ran through our plan a few more times.

When the horn went off we peered over the boxes down at the ground floor, where all of the fighting had just begun.

"Well, this shouldn't be too hard. Keep count of how many people die, when there's like half left we'll start kicking some ass."

"You always take on the role of a leader, Rose. Always making sure your friends are okay and always devising flawless plans. You're gonna be the most legendary guardian around some day, even more legendary then you are now." Eddie grinned at me, and I gave him a quick thank-you and got back to my observations.

***

After around two hours of watching the fights people started retreating into the forest. Over half of our class mates had 'died', but we couldn't really make it down to the ground level sneakily because the staircase leading from the second story balcony to the third had rotted away.

"I should've thought this through a bit more," I scolded myself. "Now we'll miss out on all the fun _and_ we'll be trapped up here when the guardians show up. And they saw us come in so we're screwed.

"Doesn't matter Rose, we'll think of something," Eddie was still trying to soothe me.

"I can't believe they call tasteless crackers food supplies!" I growled, munching on another one. "At least the water taste like water."

"Oh, hey I forgot." Tamika's face brightened up. She'd been complaining about how bored she was for an hour straight. "I brought my IPods!" she squeaked. I did miss the 'IPod'_s_' part, either.

"How many did you bring?" I asked, perking up.

"I've got two. Want one? Borrow not keep." She held out a black IPod nano, and I took it without hesitation.

"You have no idea how much I love you right now Tamika, no idea." I pulled her in for a hug. "Okay well you brightened my mood. I'm gonna scout out the balcony and try and find a way to climb down. Or a sturdy sneaky spot I can tie the rope too." They waved and giggled as I got down and all fours and crawled along behind the boxes with _Fire-_ by 50cent playing loud and clear in my ears.

When I got to the end of the boxes I laid flat on my stomach and used an army crawl to get through the vulnerable space. I was pretty sure that with the whole camo look going on, I would've looked like one of those soldiers in training at boot camp.

Alberta's voice scared the shit out of me when it came booming from down the bottom of the warehouse. "Two hours until we're unleashed upon you!" two hours? But that meant we'd been in here for four hours already…shit, time sure does fly when you're playing assassin.

I saw it then, after she left through the door. The light coming through the door sent abeam straight to it. A skinning silver metal pole that lead from the third story balcony down to the bottom floor sat on the opposite side of the warehouse. We could take it down to the second floor and hide behind the boxes there. Then I could make my way down the stairs to lure some people up, and then we could jump them, just as planned.

I started crawling back too the defensive post we held, and when I got there I pointed out the pole and explained what we'd do. I got a few high-fives before we set off doing the army crawl towards our pole.

When we got there we spent a good five minutes or so examining the bottom floor to make sure no-one was going to catch us. After that we sent Eddie down to the second floor for further examination. When he gave the all clear I sent to juniors down and then followed down myself.

"Jeez Rose, I swear we'd all be dead if not for you." Jackson murmured. It was the first time he'd really talked so far during the exercise.

"No way, you guys did heaps…I mean like…" shit…what had they done so far?

Eddie chuckled and I scowled "All hail the all mighty leader Rose. Who without we'd all be dead and spending out time on a bus, waiting to go back to school."

"Shut up, Eddie." I glowered at him. "Okay, look I see Shane. I'll lead him up here." I went to go lure him in, but Eddie grabbed my arm.

"Rose, what sort of moron's gonna try and take on the chick whose already killed uncountable strigoi?" Alright, Eddie had a point there.

"Fine…you go. Don't die though." I sat back down as he took off crawling along side the wall. I turned back to Tamika and Jackson. "Be ready to fight, Shane's partners will probably come up too, so be prepared." They nodded and went all tense with anticipation just as Eddie disappeared done the staircase.

"Shit, it's Shane!" Eddie's voice was convincingly frightened, and a few seconds later he came wheeling back up the stairs heading towards us with a massive smirk on his face.

"Get up and ready!" I ordered them. A course of action just occurred to me.

Shane ran straight into our trap and had no-one with him. But we didn't attack.

"Shane! Shane calm down and listen. We all need to work together here!" I hissed at him.

"What the hell Rose?" All thereof my partners crowed at me.

"Think about it would you? The guardians will be in here killing us all soon, and if there's only us four left then nobody's gonna get any pizza, are they?" there expression lightened at my logic speaking.

"Shit. She's right." Shane muttered, straightening up. "We're all screwed then. I'm pretty sure we're all that's left, there's no-one left outside, and I didn't think anyone was left in here, either. How'd use stay alive?"

I grimaced. "We snuck in through a window and got stuck on the third story balcony. We've got to get everyone that's left to come team up together."

"And how are we going to do that?" Shane asked sarcastically. "If there are other left, they'll think it's a trick."

"Not when I'm doing the talking. You guys stay here just incase they decide to pile me. And if they do, I _do_ want back up." I jumped up and trotted down the stairs and into the middle of the bottom floor.

"All novices that are left!" I called into the hall, feeling like a complete idiot. "We all need to join together! Think of it like this: If we fight each other, then we die out quickly. Then when the guardians come in they kill whose left and nobody gets any pizza! I say we join and take the guardians out! Then we can eliminate each other after!" my voice echoed through the hall, and I could just barely pick up on a few whispers.

"Alright," a junior whose name I didn't know stood up. "I'm all for that." We walked over from behind a few boxes to stand with me.

"What's your name?" I asked casually.

"Julian Cross. I already know your Rose Hathaway," we shook hands and I called out to Eddie and the others.

"Well, it looks like we're a six man army. We should set up some traps and find some good hiding places." I was about to start sending them off to do some jobs, but we were interrupted.

"Rose!" Meredith called out to me. "We're in too," she had two more juniors with her, which made us a nine man army. And there were fifteen more experienced guardians coming for us. "This is Luke and Kate." She gestured between the two.

"Nice to meet you. Alright let's get-" I was interrupted again.

"Hold on," Conner Greene was jogging over with three other novices, two juniors and one senior.

"Conner, thanks. And thanks Jasper. Who are these two?"

"I'm jade, and this is Zac." The girl introduced herself and her little companion.

"Good to see you helping. Alright so we're a thirteen man army, and we'll be facing a fifteen man army of more experienced and older guardians." We were still screwed… "Is there anyone else left!?" I called out again.

Nine juniors and another senior came out of hiding and joined us. Their names were Zoe, Collin, Charlie, Billy, Robert, Ashley, Skylar, Jimmy, and Bruce.

"Twenty-three, I'm starting to like these numbers. Okay let's make some plans."

***

After a good half an hour or so of planning we came up with this: We'd have snipers on the Second and third floor, two for each floor on opposite sides. We'd have five capable combat fighters scattered across the bottom floor in hiding places. We'd have another three capable combat fighters on each of the higher floors, as well. Then we'd have another eight people – the ones with watches – hiding up in trees out in the forest. The forest people would wait exactly five minutes before charging the warehouse, three through the front and three through the back while the other two climb through the windows on either side of the hall.

I was one of the people hiding up in a massive oak tree, waiting to charge.

We'd also set up a few traps to distract them. We tied crates to ropes and set it up so when the rope was pulled the crates would smash together, causing a distraction for and combat fighter a chance to escape or pick themselves up. The snipers were in charge of pulling the traps because they were the highest up. In order to protect the snipers, we smashed the staircase that lead from the bottom floor to the top floor.

We had more then just traps as distractions, though. We all smelt pretty strongly of dirt and sweat, so we got all the deodorant we could to scent the warehouse. We covered ourselves in it and covered the warehouse with it. Tamika – god bless her – had brought a pair of mini portable speakers with her IPod, and so we had that set up with an alarm so that it would start playing five minutes after we hit play, making it harder for them to hear us coming.

This fight was gonna be interesting.

We had only just finished setting up and getting the snipers into position when we heard the horn that told us we only had ten minutes left. But it was more then enough.

"Do your best!" I called as I retreated into the forest, closing the door behind me.

I was 95% sure that this was going to work. We were well organized, and we were ready. Best of all we had the element of surprise. Well, I thought we did. The guardians didn't know that we were working together and setting traps for them, so I was pretty sure we would be surprising.

"Okay you lot up the trees. Five minutes after the horn goes, we're going to give a new meaning to the word _buria_. Scatter, if a guardian finds you and you can't handle them, call out _sighting_ as loud as you can, and help will find you. Once the guardian has been eliminated call out _dealt_, so that anyone coming to help can get back into position.

"Don't try and be tough. If you know you're losing, call for help. Your stupid could keep us from our pizza, and no-ones gonna like me very much if i- I mean if _we_ don't get our pizza's. Got it?" everyone nodded. "Why are you still here then? _Scatter_!" I took off to the west and climbed up a very large oak tree.

Each of us had a gun with one charge in it, because we figured out that we could transfer charges to other guns. Each of the snipers had about six charges each, because they'd need them more then us. Ours were just in case we had a clear shot.

The horn sounded.

I braced myself in the tree, preparing to throw myself on any guardian that came anywhere near me.

"SIGHTING!" I heard someone call from the far out east. It wasn't my area, but if they didn't call out 'dealt' soon I'd have to go inspect. Thirty seconds passed and I started getting kind of anxious for my 'troops'. Another twenty seconds passed and I got ready to spring. "DEALT!" I sighed in relief.

Then I saw him stepping from tree too tree, looking like some sort of sexy badass god of a ninja: Dimitri.

I almost fell out of the tree when I saw him, giving the term '_drop_ dead gorgeous' a literal meaning.

This was the perfect opportunity to get revenge on him for all of those harsh training sessions. And for all the times I'd tried and failed to take him by surprise. I tensed, ready for the spring, just waiting for him to get close enough. Two more little steps… perfect.

I leapt off the branch, pushing off to give me extra power as I smashed into his unguarded back. I got in two shoulder points and a shin point before I jumped back out of hitting range. He recovered quickly and was facing me in an instant.

I grinned. "Never let your guard down Guardian Belikov." I teased, crouching down again.

"Quite skillful Miss Hathaway. You must have had a pretty awesome teacher. What was his name? I'd like to complement him on hid good work." He was being sarcastic, but he kept his face all business.

"I don't know. Some sexy Russian guy I found on the street." He straightened up at that and glared at me. "Well guardian Belikov, looks like your down to ten points in three hits. I guess my hits are pretty deadly, huh?" another thing that decided how many points were deducted was where you got hit, and how hard you got hit. I got Dimitri in two lethal spots _and_ I got him nice and hard, so I actually took off more then half of his thirty points in the three hits.

"Why don't you try it again, Hathaway." I didn't really like all the formal talking, but I was the one that started it.

"Okay then," I grinned straightening up. "Let's see how you do comrade." I took a few cautious steps towards him, keeping my hands raised defensively in front on my head.

He jerked forward like a lightening bolt, and I just barely managed to dodge his attack. But by dodging his attack, I had a clear shot at his stomach – another lethal point. I smashed my fist into his stomach and flew backwards as fast as I could, heading towards the tree I'd just jumped out of.

But I wasn't fast enough, and he grabbed my ankle and yanked me back down to the ground. Shit… "What now comrade? Gonna bash me in the chest until I die?" it didn't seem very likely. We were face to face and he only had three life points left and I still had all forty of mine.

I leaned in towards me to whisper into my ear. "That depends-" he started but then stopped when he realized that I'd just distracted him enough to shoot him in the chest with my laser gun. He laughed lightly. "I underestimated you, Rose."

"You wouldn't be the first one," I chuckled as he pulled back to look me in the eye. I couldn't help myself… I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned in to crash my lips to his, and then froze. "Shit," I muttered, pushing him away. "I'm late!" I started running back towards the warehouse as fast as i could. I was already thirty seconds late damn it.

We'd tied ropes to the railings on the inside of the building so that they were hanging out the window on the outside, making it easier for us to climb up the brick wall, so it only took me ten seconds to get from the stairs to the window and behind the boxes.

"You're late," Tamika whispered. She shouldn't have had to whisper, that's what the music was for.

"I had to kill Belikov. What happened to the music?" I whispered back to her, crawling to her side.

"Apparently the guardians don't like Paramore. One of the newbie's got pissed off when we shot him and he took the music outside with him, calling it an 'unfair advantage'." She muttered, unimpressed by the guardians lack of good sportsman ship.

"How many are left?"

"Only thirteen made it inside. And we've taken out six so far. This is going quicker then we planned. We'll have to go home earlier…" she frowned.

"No. we don't have to start fighting again as soon as we take out the guardians. We've got twenty-four hours out here, they can't make us go back early unless they 'kill' us all. How many has our side got left?"

"Nine-teen. We lost Shane, Zac, Zoe, Ashley, and Jimmy. All the bottom floor fighters died so far except Eddie, the ones that bust in through the doors were taken out almost instantly. Eddie's sneaking around down there some where picking them off one by one. You know if you hit them hard enough in the heart they lose all thirty points right away? That's what Eddie's doing."

"This is going well; I'm gonna go help Eddie with the other the last seven. How many charges you got left?"

"Two,"

"I'll try and line some up for you. Just don't hit me."

She nodded and I did the army crawl thing over to the same pole we slid down earlier. I slid down to the bottom and did a barrel roll off to the side, hiding myself behind some crates.

"Hathaway!" Eddie hissed. I jumped around three feet in the air (theoretically) before I realized it was him.

"I'm here to help you. Duck!" Guardian Denise tried to jump Eddie from behind, but he moved in time.

"You go left, we'll tag team." I instructed him as I circled her around the right. She was all but 'dead' now. Eddie took a swing at her stomach, and while she was distracted I went in for the kill, smashing down hard into her chest.

"Nice hit, Hathaway." She said breathless, holding her heart. I managed to do one of those KO hits Tamika was talking about, which meant Denise was out for the could. Six guardians left.

As she hobbled out of the hall, I saw the rest of the sniper level combat fighters heading for ropes or poles to join in the fight.

"You ruined my technique Hathaway, now we've got to go face to face. I liked my sneaking backstabbing method." Eddie sighed. "Oh well, better then sitting in a bus." Eddie's eyes widened and he jumped at me. Naturally, I moved, and he collided with Stan.

"Fast move Eddie," I cheered, jumping over to help him finish him off.

"Good teamwork you two," he nodded at each of us before heading to the door.

Another guardian started walking over toward us; put stopped abruptly and glanced down at his life points. He got assassinated by a sniper.

It continued on like that for a while, and by the end of it we had all of our snipers intact, and five combat fighters left. The guardians congratulated us and set us on each other again, but none of us attacked.

"So, what now?" Jackson asked.

"Do you guys want to organize matches? Or should we just wait out whatever time we have left and have the boxing matches sat school?" I asked the group of nine that remained.

We had five for waiting, and four for battling. "Well, you four can fight it out if you want. But if you touch any of us, we'll pile you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry thatthsichapter took a little longer then usual, i had to go out last night. **

**Okay, Answers: **

**1) Yes Skylar, i did use your name on purpose ^^  
2) I Don't really know how long i'll make it, i usually just keep writting untill i feel it's finished.  
3)No, the other novices in the trees at skirmish were all separated along the boarder line of the fenced off forest, so they could watch  
more of the area, so no-one saw Rose and Dimitri.**

**Any other question you'd like to ask, just stick em' in with your reviews :] xxx**

* * *

Well, the four juniors that voted for finishing off the field assignment got smart and decide the pile _us._ They actually managed to take out Jackson, which just plain old pissed me right off. I was probably a little too violent, but I was almost positive that I managed to beat some fucking sense into all four of their skulls. Well I got three; the other one threw his vest down and made a run for it.

We went to sleep after a while, all of us were exhausted. The only reason we didn't just finish it right here and now is because we just wanted to piss the guardians off. And it was a good plan, and it worked well.

The instant the twenty-four hours was over they all stormed in and dragged us out while we were sleeping. Well, Dimitri carried me out, but you know what I mean.

I woke up in between him and Stan, my head in Dimitri's lap and my legs hanging over Stan's legs. "What a pleasant way to wake up," I stifled a yawn. "How far off the academy are we?"I peeked up at Dimitri, who had his all-business face on again.

Stan cleared his throat. "You can sit up now, and we just pulled in the gate." He answered my question.

"Right," I blushed, pulling myself up into my chair. "So when do me, Eddie, Skylar, Meredith and the junior battle it out for the pizza?" I was pretty that I was gonna get that pizza, but there was no need to sound cocky.

"When we unload you all into the gym. So about five or ten minutes." Stan seemed cheerful for this.

"Awesome. So if I win, me, Eddie, Tamika, and Jackson all get pizza and soda for a week yeah?"

"That is correct."

"Same thing if Eddie wins?"

"Yes."

"Okay, thanks for that." I could tell I was starting to piss him off, but I decided wouldn't bother keeping it up.

"Hey Hathaway!" Skylar called from the back of the bus.

"Yeah?"

"I'm new here, so I don't know how _deadly_ you're supposed to be, so I was just gonna say good luck." Well…that was nice enough. And she was new, which was obviously why I didn't know who she was before.

"Err…thanks I guess, good luck to you, too." I went to turn back around to sit back down, but I heard another novice call:

"Rose," ugh. Why wouldn't they let me sit in a comfortable position?

"Yeah?" I turned around again. This time I was facing Daniel Patterson, a short but muscular guy with messy blonde hair. He was kind of cute in a little brother way.

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Being on your own, hunting down Belikov. What was it like killing all of those strigoi just for the heck of it?" I felt the Muscles in Dimitri's arm tighten at the mention of his name.

"It sucked balls being all alone, but it cool in ways too. Like I didn't have to worry about endangering anyone else, I just had to look out for myself. And killing all the strigoi _just for the heck of it_ was a real bitch. So many of them group together now it's not funny. I actually spoke with a few of them when I was trying to get information. It's really funny to watch a strigoi run away from you." Talking about talking to strigoi brought back an ugly old memory.

"_Why are you bothering with trying to find him young one? If you go back to your pathetic little school, then he'll come to you, as will the rest of us. You can try and kill us then." the male said._

"_Sorry, I'm not very patient. It's too bad you won't be joining your little buddies," _

I'd gone pretty agro after that, and I killed him a lot quicker then I'd planned too, seeing as he knew stuff about Dimitri.

Dimitri tapped my arm and I jumped out of my seat a little. "Rose, what's wrong?" he's voice was anxious. I hadn't realized that I was showing signs of panic.

"I talked to a strigoi once, while I was looking for you…he said that they were going to try and attack the school again. He was trying to piss me off, and unluckily for him it worked. But I was just thinking…well, if half the guardians and all the guardians in training are gone, wouldn't it be the perfect time to attack? I'm just being para-" the nauseous feeling in my stomach cut me off midsentence. Why did it have to be night time when we were coming back!? "Shit! Stop the fucking bus!" I roared, jumping out of my seat and running towards the driver. He did as I asked.

"What's going on, Rose?" Alberta grabbed my shoulder.

"_Buria!_ Fuck! They're everywhere!" a strange feeling of déjà vu struck me then. Not this time though, I wouldn't lose him this time.

All of the guardians were instantly alert, while the novices seemed panicked and confused. God was I glad that they let me bring a stake along.

"Rose, are you sure?" I could see that it took Alberta a very great amount of effort to stay calm, but she did it almost flawlessly.

"YES! They-" I was sucked into Lissa head to see her and Christian hiding in the attic of the church. They could both see all the strigoi running through the campus, and Christian so badly wanted to help, but at the same time he couldn't bear to leave Lissa by herself. I snapped back into my head, and found I was being shaken back and fourth by Alberta.

"ROSE! They what Rose, what?"

"They're everywhere!" the nauseous feeling flared up as a strigoi started getting closer to bus. "Get down!" I screamed, ripping my stake out and charging to the front of the bus the remove the bus driver. Two seconds later a strigoi smashed through the front window, but he obviously wasn't planning on facing a guardian – well, guardian in training – the instant he got through, and so it was easy to stake him. I spun around, face cold and hard as I glared at Alberta. "You see!?"

Alberta was already in business mode when I turned around, ordering five guardians to stay with the bus driver and ordering him to take all of the juniors as far away as possible. The rest of the guardians were piling off the bus, pushing me out with them. I grabbed Dimitri before he could pass.

"Stay with me," I ordered, but I knew I couldn't really order him around. He went to protest but I stuck a hand over his mouth. "Damn it Dimitri I just got you back! If you think I'm going to let you out of my tonight then you have got serious mental issues! Plus Lissa's trapped so you've got to help me." I smirked, knowing that if Lissa was in danger, then he really did have to help.

He nodded. "Where?"

"Church."

He grabbed my hand and we took off running as fast as we could. It was obvious I was slowing him down, and I should have told him to go ahead. But if he went ahead he'd be out of my sight, and…I couldn't lose him. Not again.

We weren't attacked by any strigoi on our way, which I decided was because of my badass reputation among them. When we got to the church Christian nearly set Dimitri on fire, thinking that somehow a strigoi had stepped on holy ground. If I wasn't so pissed that he nearly burnt Dimitri alive, I would've been proud of him for protecting Lissa.

"Are you both alright?" they nodded, unable to speak. "This is a safe place. You two stay here, and Rose and I will be just outside, if something happens…"

"Scream," I finished his sentence. "Scream loud and clear."

He nodded. "Let's go," we grabbed my arm again, pulling me down the ladder.

"Wait!" Christian grabbed my other arm. "I want to help. Rose you know I can." He was right; I did know he could help. He'd saved my ass twice with his magic, first time being in Spokane, second time being around ten meters away from where we were now. And he'd help me fight off strigoi last time they attacked the school. "Let me help, _please_!"

"But what about Lissa? She'll be safer here with you." It was wrong of me to use his soft spot, but it didn't stop me from doing so.

"No, I'll be fine Rose. You know I've got a good scream, and I doubt anything gonna get through you three." She grinned, but I could still feel the concern and anxiety seeping through out bond.

I sighed in defeat. "Hurry up then, we've got Moroi to save." I muttered, dragging Christian down the stairs with me and Dimitri. "Just like old times,"

He grinned. "Just like old times." He agreed.

Together we kept a twenty meter perimeter around the church, anything strigoi that got close to us we quickly eliminated. Killing strigoi was so much easier and quicker with help. A few strigoi that we killed were trying to make off with Moroi, and the Moroi they had all joined Lissa in the safety of the church.

I little off in the distance I caught sight of something that made my blood boil: Alina. Alina just set two strigoi on fire, but another was coming up behind her.

"Stay here!" I growled, taking off full speed in the direction of Alina. She'd just turned around to face the strigoi, and it was quick to snatch her up in a choke hold. "Get your handoff her!" I screamed at him, and he dropped her, turning to meet my furious eyes.

"_You_!" He roared, taking an advance towards me. "You're the self righteous little bitch that killed – Ahh!" he screamed out in pain as his back set on fire. Well, all I had to do then was stake him.

"Come on!" I pulled her up in my arms, and started running her towards the church. The nauseous feeling struck hard, and my body came to an abrupt halt as two stone cold hands wrapped around my ankles. Alina's body went flying forwards, and I prayed that she'd make it back to the church safely.

"Got ya!" a small, strawberry blonde declared as she ripped me back to the ankles. "I'm gonna get a _lot_ of credit for this." She giggled happily, hurling me over her shoulder.

"Well, I've definitely killed smarter strigoi, that's for sure." What sort of dumb bitch leaves someone like me with a stake? I probably should've aimed for her heart, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to stab her in the ass.

She screamed out in pain, and threw me in the air about ten feet up. Shit…the ground was moving towards me very quickly. I tried to brace myself for the impact, but when I smashed into the ground all I could do was scream. That was the worst pain I'd felt in a while.

"You stabbed me!" the little blonde was standing over me again, fury burning in her eyes.

"Well yeah, that's what you get for hurling a chick with a stake over your shoulder fuck head," it was pretty stupid to aggravate someone who could so easily crush you into pieces, but it was just sort of a natural habit of mine.

"You don't know when to shut up, do you child?" she kicked the stake out of my hand and cracked my head against the ground, rendering me unconscious. The last thing I heard was. "Roza!"

***

I didn't know where I was or how I got there, but my head hurt like a bitch and I was covered in blood. Not really the way you want to wake up in the morning.

It took a while for my vision to go straight, and when I could see I was pretty sure I wasn't seeing through my eyes, I was seeing through Lissa's.

"Where is she!?" she screamed. She was facing a strigoi when she said this, and as she said it, he cringed back in pain. This must be her super-compulsion: the ability to make people see and feel what's not really there.

"Dunno. There's a lot of my kind that would pay dearly in blood to possess that girl. She could be on her way to Antarctica for all I know." He shrugged, like none of this was important to him.

From Lissa's vision I saw Dimitri charge forward, stake in hand, stabbing the strigoi straight through the heart. When he turned to face Lissa, I saw a single glistening tear roll down his cheek. "We'll find her." His voice was firm, but the pain in it rang loud and clear.

Then I was literally slapped back into my own head. "ANSWER!" a strigoi yelled at me.

"Back the fuck off you ugly piece of shit." It was stupid, but I pulled my head back and smashed it forward into the little blonde's nose. I went to punch her then, but realized that I was bound to a metal chair, and that the chair was nailed into the ground.

She shot daggers at me with her eyes, spinning around to face the male standing in the doorway. "She isn't worthy of immortality! Can't we just keep her as a blood whore or something?" her voice was very whiney, and seeing the two of them together reminded me of Isaiah and Elena.

"No. even if we don't keep her, I know a man that would give anything to possess this girl. I ant her cleaned up and dressed up before sunrise." He walked off, and three other women strigoi strutted through the door, glowering harshly.

"Alright little dhampire, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You can pick." A very pretty tall strigoi with brown hair about the same length and color as mine said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do _what_ the easy or hard way?" my eyes flickered rapidly between the four female strigoi standing before me.

"Clean yourself up, and get dressed. We'll be on hair and makeup duty no matter which option you choose. And we'll be watching you no matter what as well, we all know how tricky you are." She pursed her lips, eyeing me from head to two. She turned too a middle sized redhead and said, "I really don't see why she's so valuable. I hear that Alex only wants her to keep her as a pet. Which is just stupid." Shem uttered, turning back to me. "Hurry up, we don't have all night."

So, I could chose between having strigoi shower and dress me, or I could have strigoi watch me shower and dress. I killed me to say it, but I mumbled, "I'll go quietly…"

"Good girl. You'd better get used to taking orders, because you'll be barking like a dog tomorrow night." They all cackled in unison, snapping of the metal cuffs around my wrists and ankles.

Some strigoi wanted me to look nice so he could make me bark like a dog. That gave a new meaning to the word's sick and twisted. I didn't want to be a strigoi pet at all, but I couldn't help but feel relieved that it was me they captured this time, and not Dimitri.

I showered myself thoroughly, eager to wash away all of the blood I was covered in. It was a mission washing it all out of my hair though, because it'd all dried hard. But after about an hour I was squeaky clean and being escorted down a long dark corridor to my next destination.

"This will be your room for the next day." The room was very dark, but I could make out the basic shapes and colours. The room was freaking huge! All the walls were a boring white, and the carpet was blood red. In the middle of the room pushed to the back wall was a giant king-sized bed, which is where the brunette was now dragging me.

"This," she pointed out an out fit that had been laid out neatly on the end of the bed. "Is what you will be wearing." She grinned, tossing me the dress and turning around.

I examined the dress she'd handed me and frowned. Sure it was gorgeous, but it was definitely not my style. "Oh hell no." I chucked the dress back on the bed. "I can take a lot of shit, but I am _not_ wearing that. And you can't make me." I crossed my arms, feeling rather superior.

She sighed. "You asked for it. Girls!" she called out loudly. "Nothing personal, honestly," she said, skipping over to me. "I actually kind of like you, but I have my orders."

Before I could say another word she smacked in the head, pushing back into unconsciousness.

***

I woke up in that same room, lying down on the massive bed. I jumped up quickly, dashing over too what looked like a light switch next to the door. After I hit the switch and the room brightened up, I spotted guilt framed Rose-size mirror hanging on the far wall, when I arrived there I froze, my mouth hanging open.

They'd dressed me up in a black silk dress that clung to my upper body but flared out slightly around the end of my stomach. The sleeves were short, but they puffed up off of my arm about an inch high. My hair had been done up in a stylish bun looking thing, but had a few perfect ringlets falling down my back.

My face was what overwhelmed me the most. I never really wore much makeup, because I never really had the chance to dress up. Sure, the lipstick I was wearing made it look like they'd coated my lips with blood, but the colour was brilliant. They'd darkened my eyes with loads of eyeliner, and with the amount of mascara I had on, it was hard to tell if my eyelashes were fake or not. They'd used a smudge of blush along each of my cheek bones, making me resemble a porcelain doll.

Around my neck there was a length of black satin ribbon that was tied neatly into a bow. My arms had been covered with elbow length black satin gloves, and in the spare skin between the gloves and the dress had been decorated further with smaller versions of the bows tied around my neck. The black silhouettes that were placed snugly on my feet had more ribbons trailing off of them that had been wrapped around my legs to just above my knees, where the were tied into _more_ bows, but had also been pinned with small red jewels. Rubies, by the look of them.

I felt like a princess…

I highly abused princess, being held against her will.

The light flicked off, and I spun around to see the outline of a fairly muscular strigoi man. "Do you like it? I think it suits you perfectly…" he purred, abruptly appearing at my side. "You look beautiful, you know." He stroked my hair, and I shuddered at his touch.

"What do you want with me?" my voice was fearless, but I knew better then to trust my vocals.

He smiled warmly, went to go sit on the bed. "Me? I wouldn't find keeping you around, you're fun to watch. But sadly I can't." he sighed. "I have a friend that is willing to trade fifteen strigoi for you. And if I passed that offer up, I'm afraid I would have been over thrown." He frowned.

"What does your _friend_ want me for exactly?"

"He thinks' you're quite beautiful. He plans to keep you as a pet for a few years, until you start getting old. Then he's going to awaken you, so you can join his army."

"Fuck off," I scowled. "I'm not a fucking house pet, and I'm not joining any stupid strigoi army."

"Well," he said, clearly amused. "You aren't a house pet _yet_, but you will be tamed."

"No, I can't be _tamed_. Because I'm not an animal! If he tries keeping me alive that long, I'll find a way to kill him, or someone will come looking for me." Hopefully that someone wouldn't be Dimitri or Lissa.

"You should rest; you have along day ahead of you."

"No. I will not s-" he knocked me on the head, and I fell _asleep._ Damn I was getting sick of being knocked out.

For the first time _ever_, I was happy to have Adrian intruding my dreams.

"Rose!" he ran at me, arms wide. "Where are you?" he's voice was very serious.

"I…I don't actually know." Shit… "I'm in a massive ass house, and it's jammed full of strigoi. They're selling me off tomorrow night to some other strigoi that wants me as a pet."I pulled back to look at him directly. "They're trading me in for fifteen Moroi. If you don't find me, you have to find them."

"We're going to find you Rose. Do you know how many people you saved last night? We lost one Moroi, because they had to retreat from the sun. They knew we'd come after them if they had the Moroi, so they dropped them and ran."

Wow. "Shit, that's great! Now you've got to…hey, I've got an idea. Wait here okay? I need to wake up for a bit so I can ask some more questions." I didn't really wait for him to agree, I just woke up.

The strigoi man I was talking to was sitting on the bed next to me, watching me with curious eyes…how creepy.

"Up already? You were only asleep for ten minutes."

"I can't sleep when I have questions. Answer them and I'll rest. Please."

He nodded. "Okay little dhampire."

"Where the hell are we?"

"We're in a town called Malone, in Montana."

"Where am I going to betaken tomorrow night?"

"Manhattan."

"What time is it?"

"Six A.M,"

"Can I see the house from the outside?"

"I can't let you outside to look, but I do believe I could collect you a picture. Just a moment," He took off out of the room, and I lay back against the bed. I really was exhausted. "Here you are," he handed me a photo of a large pale blue house, set in around forest.

"Thanks. Can I keep this?"

"I suppose so. You sure do ask a lot of questions.

"Sorry, I'm done now." I folded up the photo and stuck it down my top, knowing from experience that when I woke in my dream, it would still be there. "I'd like to go to sleep now…could you?" I didn't need to finish the question, because he'd already knocked me back out.

"Nice dress," Adrian muttered, looking me up and down.

"Shut up, I know where I am. I'm still in Montana in a place called Malone, in a big pale blue house near a bunch of forest. Hurry up, cause' I'm being shipped to Manhattan the instant it get's dark. And I want to be there when they go after the Moroi, I wanna rip a few heads off. Now stop dreaming and go tell Alberta what you know! Oh, and here," I pulled the folded picture out and gave it to him. "That's the house I'm in. pretty sure I'm on the second story… bring my renegade gear when you come please, I don't want to fight in a dress."

He nodded and was gone, and I was back into a normal dream.

It'd been awhile since I'd been able to have a dream with out fearing those eyes…every night he was gone. Whenever I blinked I'd see him, staring at me with his teeth bared and those eyes…

But dreams aren't always real, apparently. Dimitri wasn't a savage strigoi at all, if he wasn't so pale and didn't have those eyes; you wouldn't have even been able to tell there was something wrong with him.

When I woke up, the female strigoi with hair like mine was sitting right beside me, reading a magazine.

"Why do you people like watching me sleep?" I muttered, pulling myself up into a sitting position and shuffled a little further away from her.

"Don't flatter yourself. Just orders." She didn't lift her eyes from the magazine as she said this. I had the strange erg to poke her in the face and see if she'd respond to that, but I decided I'd better not.

I felt a tug of emotions in the back of my mind, and let myself drift into Lissa head once more, to see if they'd organized a way to save those Moroi yet.

"Malone? That's not to far away…can't I come and help? I mean what if she's hurt? What if she's hurt badly and needs me to heal her?" Lissa was arguing with a rushing Alberta, who wasn't paying much attention.

"Sorry your Highness but no. You cannot come, there is no need. We have all of the fire users tagging along and as you know, Alina is perfectly capable of healing Rose if it's required." She rushed through into a room, closing Lissa outside.

"UGH!" she stamped her foot and started storming off down the corridor, looking for Dimitri. When she found him, she a almost knocked him right on his ass.

"Sorry guardian Belikov! I was just looking for you…" she trailed off at the fierce look on his face, like he was about to rip off a few strigoi heads with his bare hands. And, she was surprised to see that there were a few tears in his eyes.

"Sorry princess, I should have been paying more attention. You could have been hurt." He swept away the tears like they were never there, and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. "I know why you were looking for me, and I'm afraid it's not my place to decide whether you are aloud to come." He bowed, and when he opened his eyes he looked just as he always looked, no signs of emotion.

No signs of emotion that Lissa could pick up on, but the fury burning behind those eyes was actually kind of scary. Man I'd hate to be a strigoi right now.

"Earth to dhampire? Hellloooo?" the female strigoi was waving her hand back and forth in front of my face.

"Err what?" I shook my head, trying to clear it. Poor Dimitri…

"You're Rosemarie Hathaway. I just realized." She looked curious as to this fact.

"_Rose_ Hathaway. And you are?" why I wanted to know a strigoi's name was certainly beyond me.

She smiled, pleased. "Nikki. I can't remember my last name though."

"You were human before you were change, or dhampire."

She nodded, and her eyes were sad. "Yeah…I was like you," she turned her head around and shifted her hair so I could three molinja marks, but no promise mark. "See."

"Yeah…but you weren't a guardian?" I frowned in confusion.

"I said I was like you, remember? I didn't graduate. I was on holidays, about to go into senior years, and I went to stay with my mother. When I got there a strigoi was forcing its blood into her, and she was changed. The family she was protecting was all gone. She told me to run but I…" she scowled down at her magazine. "I was too blinded by rage. I killed three of them, but then my mother came at me, and she threw me out the window into the snow. I thought she was attacking me, but she was saving me." I didn't know strigoi had any other emotions other then pissed off and amused. By the sorrow glowing in her eyes now was almost painful.

"I drove back to the academy, and all they did was give me those stupid fucking tattoo's. I had a pretty unpredictable temper, and so ran away from school, stealing two silver stakes and an SUV. I found and killed my mother, and then John, you know the creepy male strigoi that was calling you beautiful? Yeah well he came to me, I tried to stake him and he changed me. He told me he'd go after my little sister if I didn't stay, and he told me her address perfectly…so I stayed. I should be twenty-seven this year, not seventeen." She pursed lips. "Guess the not-getting-old part isn't so bad.

"But it still feels wrong, feeding off Moroi. I mean that memo, _Only They Matter_! Every time I see one it's started running through my head. I tried feeding off humans but that pissed John off, because he thought I'd get weak and be easy to kill."

"That must've sucked…" was all I could say. So she was a novice before she was changed, a novice with a short temper. Remind me of anyone… "I probably…well I _did_ do the same thing, but I guess you already know my story."

She grinned. "Yeah, the world knows your story. So if you're as deadly as they say, how'd you end up here?"

I grimaced. "The academy was attacked again. We were killing them all pretty easily, but then I saw the friend that I owed Dimitri's life to being attacked, she was nearly carried away but I got there and I saved her. But she'd hurt herself and I was running her to the church so she'd be safe, and that little blonde bitch tripped me over, and I couldn't react fast enough. Then I stabbed her in the ass cause she was too fucking stupid to take my stake off me, she got pissed and knocked me eat pretty fast. Woke up covered in blood, and cuffed down to a metal chair in a cell with her slapping me in the face."

"Yeah, Alice was a little pissed off that you stuck a stake through her ass." She chuckled.

"Why do you help them?"

"I can't do anything else unless I magically turn dhampire again, can I? All I do is watch the feeders, I make sure they're alright."

"Feeders? Don't you guys just suck Moroi dry?"

"Some do, but John thinks it's more logical to keep them longer. They've got a room full of humans that they kill in between… taking care of the Moroi feeders was the closest thing I could get to save them. I make sure they stay alive."

"Hey…so like if I told you I knew away for you to be a dhampire again, would you take it?" I arched my eyebrow at her, thinking of Alina. Surely she'd want to help her.

She frowned. "Hell yeah, I hate living in the dark. But how? I've never…oh! That's how you did it with Belikov, isn't it?" she looked excited now. "Oh my god are you serious!? You'd do that for me!?"

Sure felt weird feeling sorry for a strigoi, but she didn't seem all that bad. "I could ask my friend…but I'd have to be able to trust you, to know you wouldn't go ape shit and rip her throat out."

"If I went ape shit and ripped her throat out I'm pretty sure the guardians found fuck me up pretty fast, Rose."

"Yeah I guess, but there's one other thing…I need to get out of here."

"I guess…I can try and get you out, but it won't be easy alone…I'll try though. Hell, I'll get you out of here, you're gonna be too good of a guardian to be Alex's new house pet. You don't need to risk your friend, just remember, that not all strigoi are blood thirsty killing machines. It was nice talking to you Rose, I hate talking to the bitches that live here." She jumped out and strolled over to a window. "You can climb down from here; you're on the second story. Just be careful okay?" she smiled and came back over too me.

"But what about you? They'll kill you…" I muttered. How would I explain to the rescue party that a strigoi wasn't the enemy, that she helped me get out? I couldn't, really. "Okay. I've got it all worked out. You just have to stay in this room, okay? And I've got an excuse for you. Go get me something to eat and I'll go out the window, and when you get back go tell John I escaped while you were fetching me some munchies.

"Okay, go." She said, pushing me toward the window.

"I'll be back for you. Just stay locked in this room by yourself, and I'll be back for you." I opened the window and she ran from the light. I turned around to say bye, but she was already heading downstairs to follow out plan through.

"I can't believe a strigoi just saved me…"I muttered, trying not to fall down. It was sure a hell of a lot harder climbing down a drain pipe in silhouettes


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for allthegreat and positive reviews :]**

**This chapter will probably be a little weird but yeah, i thought it'd be fun.**

**Answers:**

**1)Yes, he would have been suspicious. But he was a cocky strigoi and he didn't think that there was anything Rose couldhave done to get free or to show or tell anyone where she was so he saw no harm in telling her what she wanted to know.  
2)Yeah Mia's going to be in the story, i love Mia! i just haven't reachedthat part yet, sorry.  
**

**Enjoy your read! :]] xxx**

* * *

I'd been soaking in the sun for about an hour now, and I could hear all the pissed off strigoi inside.

"She's just outside!" they were screaming, seriously pissed off that I'd managed to climb out of a second story window, which I thought was pretty stupid.

I mean they knew who I was, so what made them think I wouldn't be able to climb down a drain pipe? Jeez…

Every now and then I'd jump into Lissa head to see how she was holding up. She was okay, but she mega pissed that she didn't get to come help. It annoyed me to not be able to see what was going on, too.

"SUCK ON THAT YOU UNDEAD BASTERDS!" I screamed at the house, chuckling. God it felt good to aggravate them like that. And it passed the time a little faster.

It was going to be embarrassing when the others got here. I just hoped they didn't bring any cameras. It was bad enough seeing myself dressed like some gothic Disney princess, it was going to be worse when the guardians saw me, and it was going to be even worse if the novices saw me.

I'd never live it down. I'm supposed to be Rose Hathaway, the chick that's killed more strigoi then most guardians, the chick that broke out of a highly secured school. Rose Hathaway who kicks ass in training and sits at the top of her class.

Not the Rose Hathaway who lets her guard down, gets kidnapped by strigoi and then gets dressed up like a Disney princess to get sold as a pet to some other strigoi.

I went back into Lissa's head again to find her to find her glaring at Adrian, who was helplessly trying to soothe her.

"You know she'll be fine, she always is. You should've seen what they dressed her in though, damn. That'll never get old." He chuckled. Damn it! He told someone already…

"Really?" she perked up a little. "What'd she look like?"

"Like…a princess. But like a gothic, vampire princess. You'd think she was a very rich royal Moroi if she wasn't so hot." Ew. As if I looked anything like a Moroi, little own a _royal_.

"That I could picture…I wish I'd been able to see her. I'm still not good enough with the whole dream walking thing." Lissa had been trying very hard to learn how to dream walk, and she'd been doing alright. But she couldn't hold the dream for more then five minutes, which annoyed her.

"Roza!" I was snapped back into my head by Dimitri's sweet voice.

"Oh, you're here now." Shit, they'd brought a mini army of guardians to collect one little dhampire, and they didn't even need to fight anybody now. "What about the school? You shouldn't have brought so many guardians," I muttered, letting Dimitri pull me up off the ground.

He was smirking at me. "Nice dress, suits you." The amusement in his eyes was practically an aura surrounding every guardian near.

"Shut up." I glowered at them.

"Rose!" a familiar female voice called to me.

"Mum? What are you doing here?"

"We couldn't take to many of the schools guardians just In case more attacked. So they brought in others, I was one of them. Oh I'm so glad you're okay. You shouldn't have let your guard down!"

Well, at least she cared about me. "I know, but I had to get Alina. That strigoi was going to take her away and…" I peered up at Dimitri briefly by accident, and hoped she didn't notice. "I owe her too much to let her be taken away like that.

"Storm the house; kill all the strigoi you find. We can't allow them another chance to attack." Alberta was ordering them

"No! you have to wait. Okay listen, there's a girl in that room," I pointed to the room I'd climbed out of. "Called Nikki. She got me out of the house, and I promised I'd try and help her. She was a guardian before she was changed, and she wants to be a dhampire again. Did you bring Alina…?" they were all staring at me with pure astonishment, like I'd just slapped them all in the face with a fish.

"You what…a strigoi helped you?" My mother mumbled.

I nodded. "So is Alina here?" my question answered itself.

"Rose, you gonna get changed or what?" she chuckled, seeing what I was wearing. I glowered at her.

"Do _not_ storm the house until I'm back, _Please._" I ran off over to the car Alina was leading me to, pleased to find a set of clothes folded on the seat. Not so pleased to see she didn't bring all my cool stuff. All that was there were the boots, the gloves, a stake and a gun.

I didn't complain as I quickly got changed though, it was better then trying to stake strigoi in a powder puff dress.

"Okay, let's go." When we got back around to the yard where the others were waiting impatiently, I smiled to see them all gasp at me in my mini shorts and tank top get up. I still felt like an assassin, even without all the cool weapons.

"Okay. I'm taking Alina in through the window, we'll change...Oh shit, hold on." I turned back to Alina. "I have a um…_friend_ that I'd like you to help…you know, like you did for Dimitri…" I can't believe I didn't ask her straight away.

"Sure, I'd really love to help. But you know I'd need to energy, and you'll need to be conscious through the fighting, Rose. Maybe after…"

"Okay. Maybe she'll help us kick some ass." I turned back to Alberta. "I'm taking Alina in through the window, we'll get Nikki to help us. You guys can charge the front and back or whatever it is you do."

"Okay but you're taking guardian Alto and guardian Belikov with you." She signaled for them to join Alina and myself as we headed for the drain pipe.

When I reached the window seal I pushed I jumped through into the little safe spot created by the sun. Nikki was sitting on the bed.

"Rose! You really came back! Does that mean you're going to help me?" she clapped her hands, coming as close to the sun as she could.

"Yeah we're going to help you. But we can't until after the fight, because Alina's gonna need to take blood to be able to fix you up." The rest of them piled through, and Nikki took a few steps back. "They won't hurt you. Can you help us Nikki? In the fight I mean. The faster we finish the faster we can fix you."

She blinked a couple of times. "S-sure. I guess, but I can't use those stakes, they burn…"

"That's okay. You'd have to have a pretty hard swing." I turned to Dimitri Stan and Alina. "What now?" it'd been a while since I'd ask for instructions and it felt kind of weird.

"Stick close, Alina can set them aflame, and we'll do the staking. Let's move." Dimitri was the one giving orders, and so he took the lead as we headed for the door.

"They're already inside! They're everywhere!" Alice, the little blonde was running down the corridor towards us. "Traitor!" she hissed at Nikki. Shortly after she spontaneously combusted, and died all by herself.

"You don't have to turn them into dust in five seconds, Alina." I pointed out. It reminded me of that first strigoi Christian burnt alive on the first school raid. "Save your energy."

Another three came running down the hall, literally screeching to a halt when they saw us. Before they could really do anything they were on fire and Dimitri was charging them.

"See, that's better Alina." It sucked having strigoi so close and so many, because I couldn't tell how close they were. The feeling just stayed the same. It sort of faltered a bit when they turned into the same hall as us, back that was probably because I could see them.

"Come on, the others are down stairs. We'll take the top floor." Stan said, heading in the direction we just came. I waited for Dimitri before I followed.

"You guys really are organized, aren't you?" Nikki murmured to me as we kicked down another door into a room of strigoi.

"Yeah," I huffed, staking another strigoi. "It's all too easy when you've got someone like Alina who can set them on fire. Kind of boring, but its efficient.

"What are you doing Nikki?" I turned to see the redhead I'd see earlier baring her teeth at Nikki.

"What I was trained for," she growled, jumping at the redhead. She wasn't expecting her to attack, and it was very gruesome one she ripped her head off with only her hands… "God that felt good. I've had to put up with her shit for ten years to long." She cheered, wiping the left over blood off her hands and on her pants.

"Nice job," Stan complimented her. I could tell he felt on edge having a strigoi so close, but seeing her attack her own kind was reassuring for him.

Once we were done up stairs and we'd checked around a few times, being positive there were no strigoi left on the floor, we headed downstairs to help the others out. Everything looked pretty much dead downstairs too.

"Is that all of them?" Alina asked, sounding exhausted.

"Yeah I think so, but did you check the basement? There's a bunch of Moroi and humans being held down there. "Nikki was the one who answered, and all the guardians just stared at her like she was some sort of science experiment.

"Well what are we standing around for?" I turned to Nikki. "Lead the way," we followed her to the back door, but she stopped there and turned around, grimacing.

"I can't go out there…" she muttered. "But if you go left a little you should see the door thing. They usually keep four or five of us on guard down there, so be careful." She stepped back from the door and waved. "Good luck."

"Thank-you for your help." Alberta nodded at her before opening the door. The door that she was talking about was a big wooden square, leading down. "Belikov, Alto and Ozera, keep guard outside."

The rest of us piled in through the basement. Nikki was right about the five strigoi keeping guard, but we caught them by surprise and they were absurdly outnumbered.

"Oh my," Alberta gasped as she opened another door.

"Guardians!" a few voices chanted. "We're saved!" I could hear sobs drifting through the door. This must have been the room full of Moroi.

"Please follow Guardian Vasiliev and guardian Petrov to the surface. We'll have you back with your families in no time at all." Alberta kept a hard face as she spoke.

"God bless your souls," an old Moroi women patted Alberta on the shoulder as she hobbled out of the room. She was being supported by two other younger Moroi.

"All of the poor people…" Tamara mumbled, walking over to my side. "How does it feel to know you're responsible for finding them all?"

I didn't really think of it like that. "Was an accident, but I'm glad. I'll have to get kidnapped for often."I teased.

"Okay thats all of them," Alberta said, moving on to the next room. "Just need to find the humans."

"We're in here!" they screamed. Well…that made it a bit easier.

***

Once we had all of the Moroi and humans out, we loaded the Moroi into the cars and sat around outside the house, waiting for the cars to come back for us. Most of the humans took off running, but one volunteered to be Alina's energy source while she helped Nikki.

"Okay," Alina grunted, placing her hands over Nikki's heart like she did for Dimitri. "This will hurt, but you can't move or it'll screw up. Okay?" Nikki braced her self and nodded.

The only sign to show that it had started was the tiny yelp she gave when it began. The human was a plump female, and she looked to be around the age of thirty. She stayed standing next to Alina with her neck pointing towards her. She gave a content moan when Alina bit into her, and looked sad when it was over.

"I'm…I'm really me again…"Nikki's voice was almost inaudible as she peered down at her hands with chocolate brown eyes. She threw her arms around me and Alina, sobbing over my shoulder. "You really came through! I can't believe this!" she pulled back to look at Alina. "Thank-you for saving me, thank-you for helping when it was never your place to do so!"

Alina laughed a little. "Never my place? You helped Rose get out, and it was my fault that she was here in the first place. The least I could do was helping you."

"It was not your fault I got kidnapped, I shouldn't have let my guard down," I muttered, peeking down at my wicked boots.

"Who cares who's fault it is, we got you back now. We saved a bunch of Moroi and we revived another guardian." Alina cheered, pulling both me and Alina back in for another hug.

"I'm not a guardian yet," Nikki said when Alina released us again. "I'm still a novice. I was only seventeen when they changed me…" she frowned. "Ugh…I have to finish school now, don't I?"

"Yeah…but you can graduate with us!" Alina said, but then pursed her lips and said, "Well, you can graduate with Rose…"

Nikki raised her eyebrows. "I thought you were older then Rose? You certainly look it…"

I glowered at her. "I'm three years older then her." I walked back out of the door, Alina and Nikki following. But Nikki stopped before she got into the sun. "You can touch the sun now, Nikki. Don't be afraid…" I stepped back, holding out my hand.

She grinned, taking my hand and stepping into the sunlight for the first time in ten years. "It's so warm…" she said, skipping around in circles. "I missed this so much." Tears started rolling down her cheeks. "I owe you both so much." She ran back over and all but tackled me as she hugged me.

"You two could get off as twins…" my mother said, crossing her arms of her chest and laughing with amusement. "Do you want to contact your family, Nikki?"

"I…I don't know my father, and my mothers dead." She sniffed. "Doesn't really matter, I'll be a guardian soon…"

Alberta and my mother grimaced. "You'll needs a parental signature on her papers to get into any of the academy's…"

She pulled back. "What?"

Alberta sighed. "You can't be a guardian unless a parent signs your papers,"

"Which won't be a problem for long," my mum butted in.

"How so?" Alberta retorted.

"Nikki…would…wow, this is quite strange. Could I, err…" I trailed off, thinking about her words.

"You're going to adopt Nikki?"I gasped, guessing what she was trying to say.

She frowned at me. "How'd you?" she shook her head looking at Nikki. "I could, but I'm not much of a mother. It'd just so you could finish your schooling." She kept her business face on, but the embarrassment was burning in her cheeks. Why she was embarrassed was beyond me though, she'd just done a wonderful for a person she doesn't even know.

"Rose would be my sister?" she turned to me, grinning widely. "Seriously? So like I'd be a Hathaway?"

"I guess so…" mum muttered. I was stunned…I don't know what was weirder. I was going to have a sister? Or weirder, my mum had just asked to adopt someone.

"What do I have to do?" Nikki asked, jumping up and down like a five year old.

"I guess I have to fill in some papers…" mums voice tried off. She asked looked just as amazed as I did.

"I…you're…we're…sisters?" I choked out. I couldn't tell if I was horrified or excited.

The cars came back then, empty. "Alright, everybody in!" Alberta ordered and we all piled into the cars.

***

Nikki, me, and Alina managed to get out of going into out classes the next day, but they wouldn't let us go shopping like we wanted to. Nikki was my new room mate, and my mum really did adopt her. So…Nikki was officially my sister. I had an adopted sister who'd been strigoi for ten years.

There was a knock on the door, and I jumped off the floor to go answer it. Lissa, Adrian, Christian, and Eddie were standing at the door smiling.

"Is it true?" Lissa asked, skipping past me and into the room. "The rumors were true!" Lissa gaped. "You've got a sister!"

"Err, yeah I guess. Good to see you too, Liss…" I muttered, letting the other three in. "This is Nikki, my adopted sister. She spent ten years as a strigoi." I closed the door and went to sit back down.

They went into a full throttle conversation, barely stopping for air. They had so many questions to ask Nikki it wasn't funny. Where did she come from, what was it like being strigoi, what happened to her mother, how she convinced my mum to adopt her. It went on like that until lunch was over, and Lissa, Christian, and Eddie had to leave. Adrian decided to stick around, though.

"So Rose," he said once the other three were gone and it was just Nikki Alina and me left. "How'd you like that dress of yours?" he chuckled.

Call it an over reaction if you will, but I launched myself at him, both of us tumbling off the bed he was sitting on and on to the floor. I rolled over on top of him and pinned his arms down. "If you tell another soul about that dress," I growled into his face. "I _will_ kill you."

It took me about ten seconds to realize the position we were in was a bit awkward. "Hey, if telling people about a dress get's you on me like this, the whole schools gonna know within the hour."

I rolled off to the side and jumped up, blushing. "Don't get any idea's."

"Too later," he said, standing up. "Rose, we need to talk."

I sighed. "Yeah…I know, Adrian. Come on; let's go for a walk or something." I'd been dreading this day ever since we first got back. I'd promised Adrian I'd try and take him seriously if I came back, but I hadn't been counting on having Dimitri given back to me.

He followed me out the door. Neither Alina or Nikki said anything, lucky for them.

"Okay… I know I promised you I'd take you seriously, and I honestly thought that I could."

"Rose," he murmured, trying to interrupt me.

"I mean I didn't think it was possible for me to get Dimitri back!"

"Rose," he said again.

"I'm so sorry that I like…used you I guess. I didn't mean to and I understand if you're mad at me."

"Rose." He said again, slightly irritated this time.

"I'm sorry…but I love him. And I can't ch-"

He stuck his hand over my mouth and sighed. "Listen to me would you? Rose, I know. I understand and…well I guess i'll get over it."

"You…really?" I wasn't expecting to here anything serious or rational out of his mouth during this conversation.

"Really. You love him, and I understand that." He chuckled. "You should see your face, that expression is absolutely priceless." I wasn't sure which of the hundreds of emotions running through me he saw, but I didn't really care all that much.

I was speechless. Well, almost speechless. "Wow," was my fantastic reply.

***

The next day was pretty much ordinary.

I walked into the gym and tossed my bag over on the ground next to the chair Dimitri would usually be sitting on, reading his old western books. He wasn't anywhere I could see though, so I just started my warm up stretches.

"Hey, Rose?" Nikki's voice echoed through the gym.

"Yeah?"

"Are these the early morning training sessions with Guardian Belikov?" her voice was getting closer.

"Yeah, why?" I was still stretching.

"Well," I heard a bag hit the floor. "I'm supposed to come to these with you now, so I can catch on things." She came over to sit in front of me as she started stretching.

"Okay, well I don't know where he is right now," I stood up and started jogging around the gym. She came over and joined me.

"So what do we do?"

"Wait, I guess."

The gym door opened. "You can start by helping me set these up." Dimitri grunted, staggering to the middle of the gym with a few bags.

"What's all this?" I asked, rushing over to help. I realized then that I didn't want Nikki here, this was me and Dimitri time.

"It's going to be an obstacle course," he said, dropping the bags on the floor. "You and Nikki are gonna help me run the junior class today."

"Cool," Nikki said as she skipped over to join us.

Dimitri showed us where we had to put everything and how to set it all up. We were just finishing off as the juniors started filing in to the gym.

"Aren't there a bit many to be just one class?" Nikki asked Dimitri.

"Yes. This isn't one class, these are all the junior novices. They're going through a test today."He answered, smirking a little.

I glared at him. "I knew it. Were gonna be punching bags, aren't we?"

He frowned at me. "I wasn't going to tell you that until you were running laps on the track trying to avoid being piled on by a bunch of children," he shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he hit the switch and went into business mode.

"That's cruel, Belikov. That's cruel." Nikki muttered at his back as we followed after him to go stand in front of the class.

"Quiet down you lot!" the entire gym went quiet, and all of the juniors eyes shot up at Dimitri. I saw Tamika wave at me, so I quickly waved back. "Today, we will be putting you through a field exam of sorts. But due to recent events, it will betaking place at the school. During this exam, you will be put through a series of challenges of which you must complete. You will be marked on your ability to complete each challenge." He turned towards me and Nikki. "Your First challenge will start after I'm finished talking. The objective," he through me and Nikki two pretend silver stakes each and a buckle up belt thing with spaces on either side for the stakes. He smirked. "Get the stakes."

The instant he finished talking me and Nikki were flying towards the back entry, and a heard of eager juniors were stampeding after us.

"Come on Hathaway's!" One of the junior boys called out. "You aren't supposed to run, you're supposed to fight!"

Me and Nikki started laughing at that, running through the middle of a fitness class on the oval.

"Run, Forest Run!" Eddie called out after us.

We jumped the fence and kept running towards the elementary campus.

"Rose," Nikki said. "I think we should split up."

"Good idea," I was starting to get a little tired. "You take the Elementary campus, I'll cut back through em' and hit the forest," she nodded, and I hit a hairpin turn and ripped back straight through the middle of them, almost knocking a few over.

"Which one do we follow?" they started mumbling, giving me and Nikki more time to get away.

"They're splitting up, half go after Nikki, other go after Rose!" I recognized Tamika's voice, and was proud of her for taking charge.

I turned back to see Jackson in the lead of my pursuit. The junior with the awesome bailing skills.

"You know I'm gonna get you Rose!" he called out to me.

"Not likely!" I called back.

"That's right Rose, work that ass!" I heard another senior from Eddie's class call, and a few laughs broke out amongst the juniors, hopefully slowing them down a bit.

I decided not to cut through the forest, just incase I accidently went past the wards. Instead, I just kept running straight for the theory buildings. I knew a short cut from there back around the gym, and there was no way they'd follow me.

I ran full speed up the stairs and down the hall, heading for Stan's classroom. He always had a window open, and from his windows there was a ledge I could jump onto after I get through the window. The juniors would probably try and go back around to get me, but I'd be jumping from that ledge to the roof and carry on the roofs until I got to the gym.

I opened the door then slammed it shut, locking it behind me. "Sorry Guardian Alto," I puffed, sliding through his open window then closing it too.

"Open the door!" the juniors were screaming. I didn't here the rest though, I was already gone. The roof tops took me straight to the gym, and when I got inside I slammed the door shut.

"That was beyond cruel, Dimitri." I growled, stomping over to him. Sure, he can sit down and read his book but oh no, me and Nikki get chased across campus by a bunch of desperate-to-pass juniors.

"Impressive, you still have both your stakes." He pressed his book down on the floor and looked up at me. "How'd you lose them?"

"Ran through Stan's class and locked em' out. Jumped out the window and hit the roof tops." It was nice not running, but I knew they'd find me soon enough.

"Well done. You'd better find a good hiding place, they'll be back soon." He picked his book back up and started reading again.

Hiding was a good idea, and I had to perfect place in mind. I sprinted over to one of the climbing ropes that hung from the roof of the gym and started climbing up it.

"You'll be trapped up there," he said laughing.

"So? Only matter's if they find me. And you can't tell them cause that cheating." I pulled myself onto one of the metal bars that held the roof up. There was no way they'd find me here, and if they did I could just shake the rope and knock the mall back down.

"Here they are," he muttered as the door flew open.

"Where is she?" They huffed out at Dimitri at the same moment.

"She's gone to new _heights_," he chuckled, trying not to look up at me.

"She died?" Tamika gasped.

"Nope. She's not _up_ there yet." Damn it. He was giving them clues.

"Then what are you trying to say?" they were growing frustrated, and I was growing annoyed.

"She's in a _higher_ place." He said again.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" another boy crowed at him.

But I saw her look at me. Tamika caught me, pointing a finger and staring through narrowed eyes. "I SEE YOU!" she yelled, and the others all turned to look where she was pointing.

"Damn it Dimitri!" I screamed down at him, frantically pulling the rope up.

"Get the rope, quick!" they all sprinted over and started jumping up trying to get it, but it was already to high.

"You're allowed to use whatever items you find in this gym to complete the exercise," Dimitri sighed. "I forgot to mention that." She grinned up at me, and I shot daggers at him with my eyes.

"BOMBARDMENT!" they cheered, scattering out around the gym searching for items they could hurl at me.

I glared down at Dimitri, and he…_winked_ at me. Dimitri just winked…

"Use a distraction, Rose!" he called up to me. He was right…

Most of the juniors were heading back over with soccer balls and staffs, and anything else heavy enough to throw.

"GO FETCH!" I yelled, tossing a stake to the other end of the hall. It skidded out the door, too. That's all it took to send them all flying out the door, and I was quick to drop the rope and slide down. "Thanks, I guess."

"Nikki's beating you now." He grinned.

"This isn't a competition for us though, is it?"

"I was sure I mentioned that…" he frowned, thinking back. "Sorry, Rose. I really did think I mentioned that."

His voice was behind me now, and I was running for the stake. When I got outside they were all wrestling for it, and when I came outside they froze. I saw a silver flash near the middle of the group, and made a dive for it before any of them could react.

It hurt when I hit the ground, but I got the stake which was what mattered. I managed to crawl out from between all of the legs, and none of them knew what was going on until I jumped up and tucked the stake back in the empty spot on the belt Dimitri had given me. "That was pretty simple," I laughed at them briefly, before taking off in a sprint again.

"Damn it Hathaway!" they roared angrily, and I snickered. We were headed for the elementary campus again, and we had to run through the class on the oval again.

"Eddie's class! Slow them down!" I plead.

The guardian in charge of the class nodded to me, and barked out for all of them to keep the juniors distracted. What a life saver…

"What's going on, Rose?" Eddie was jogging up beside me.

"Junior's have got a field exam sort of thing. Dimitri tricked me and Nikki into being part of it. Gotta' keep these stakes off them." I turned back to see and the seniors beating back the juniors. "Man Eddie, who's the guardian teaching that class?"

"Guardian Black, A.K.A Anthony, his a newbie."

"God, I owe him big time. Those kids seriously don't give up."

"Why don't you hide somewhere?" we slowed into a fast walk so I could get my breath back.

"I did, I hid in the roof on the gym. Dimitri sold me out though. Had to toss a stake out the door to get rid of em'. They were gonna shoot me down with training equipment. Got the stake back just then though, that's why they're after me again. Wonder how Nikki's holding up…"

"She was headed for the elementary campus. Don't mind me taggin' along do ya?"

"Not really. I'll use you as bait if they catch up." I mock punched him, glancing around to check on the situation with the junior's. They were still being kept busy.

"Awesome." He grinned. "Don't worry, those junior's aren't going anywhere." Eddie mumbled, turning around as I did.

"No, but _those_ junior's are!" Nikki was running full speed towards us, still being trailed by a vicious mob of junior's.

"What…? Shit…" Eddie muttered, turning around. "Run time?"

"No. Let's fight them…" I mumbled, tossing him a stake. "Protect that with your life, Eddie. You're in this too, now."

"Always pushing your troubles onto me," he joked, tucking the stake into his pocket.

"We'll hand the stakes out to the last four standing."

"Rose!" Nikki called. "We're going to fight them, aren't we?"

I nodded. "Don't hurt them though," she was standing with us now. "You lost a stake?"

"Yeah…they cornered me and I threw one out a window, they went after it like a dog to a bone." She chuckled, taking an offensive stance.

"Alright junior's, listen up." They stopped a meter in front of us. We're going to fight you. There's three of us, and three stakes. If you take us down, the stakes yours." I changed my plan at the last second. "You've got to be fair though, no more then two on one at a time."

"Dibs on Hathaway!" a few called. Two tall, muscular boys with black and brown hair strutted up to me. "Us two verse you." The one with black hair said, sounding absurdly cocky.

"Your exam," I grinned and made the first move.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry that this chapters a little bit short.**

**I'd like to mention the "Dimitri4ever" for the suggestion to explain how Nikki lost her stake through a Nikki POV. So yeah, thanks :]**

**Enjoy your rad! :] xxx  
**

* * *

**NIKKI POV**

"Rose," I said. "I think we should split up."

"Good idea," Rose nodded. "You take the Elementary campus, I'll cut back through em' and hit the forest," I nodded, and she hit a hairpin turn and ripped back straight through the middle of the junior's.

"Which one do we follow?" they started mumbling, giving me and Rose more time to get away.

"They're splitting up, half go after Nikki, other go after Rose!" a girl ordered. Well they were quick to figure that out.

I didn't stop to look back as I wheeled towards the elementary campus. Rose had given me a quick tour of the school, but I didn't really know my way around. I knew how to get to the elementary campus though, so I could think up where to go next once I was there.

"Come on Hathaway, you're in our school now! So you gotta' play by out rules!" a boy called out from behind me.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'll give you extra credit for trying kiddo," I chuckled.

I heard a bunch of whiney 'no fair' and 'that's cheating' sound off from behind me at that. Hah, they thought I was being serious about to extra credit thing. They really must be desperate to pass.

Once I made it into the elementary campus I headed for the first dorm I saw. Rose told me they were good for sneaking in and out of with the drain pipes. I ran up to the third floor and headed for the only open door I could see. Once I got inside I slammed it closed and jogged up to the window.

Sure was along way down…_No it's not, Nikki._ A told myself. Well, I little height was a hell of a lot better then an angry mob of desperate junior's. I nodded to myself, "Yeah, it's better then them." I muttered.

"What are you chicken!?" a girl's voice screamed from behind the door.

"Come out and fight like a senior, wimp!" an agravated boy voice yelled.

Hearing that almost convinced me to go fight them all. Call me a fucking wimp will he… _No Nikki!_ I mentally scolded myself. _You're not strigoi now; you don't get mad at people like that._ Being a strigoi for ten years had given my bad-temper higher standards. Whenever someone pissed me off then, I could just smack then in the head.

I pulled the window open and stuck my head out, searching for the closest drain pipe. Shit. The closest drain pipe was a good ten meter's along the wall.

What now?

Okay, what options did I have?

Option 1) Make a suicidal jump for the drain pipe.  
Option 2) Try and do what Rose did and run back through them.  
Option 3) Find something to climb down with.  
Option 4) Go out and fight them.

Right…I could cross option one off without further investigation, the name said it all: suicidal. Option two wasn't bad, but I wasn't Rose…Option three, I liked option three. There'd have to be something I could use as a rope in here. And option four? No way. I wasn't gonna try and fend for myself against a bunch of junior's. It'd be to embarrassing when the pummeled me.

Okay, so what should I be looking for? We had: Shoe laces, bed spreads, pillows, blah blah etc etc. I'd have to apologize to who ever lived here, stealing bed sheets and pillows probably wasn't one of the nicest things I'd done.

I dropped the pillows out the window to soften the drop up a bit, then tied the bed sheets tightly together before tying one end to the window frame. I felt like a burglar off one of those kiddies cartoon shows. All I needed was a mask and a stripped shirt and I'd fit the role perfectly.

I could still hear the junior's banging on the door and telling me to let them in when I was climbing down, so at least none of them had made a move yet. The make-shift rope got me down to about a meter off the ground, and dropping on pillows wasn't going to be very harsh.

I started walking over to the next door after that, feeling quite smug with my ninja escape skills. They wouldn't have a clue where I was now, and they wouldn't even have a lead. Sure, they'd work out I went out the window, but that's it.

I chuckled to myself. I wonder how Rose was doing? She'd be fine, obviously. If I were able to lose my lot, she would have lost hers. Either that or she'd rendered them all unconscious.

As I turned the corner to the next dorm I peeked down to double check the other novices hadn't decided to come around and check to see if I'd climbed down. I sighed in relief at the clear path ahead of me. Just to be safe, I started jogging around to the next dorm.

"Shit, the other's are gonna be so pissed that we fell behind," a young boy muttered from in front of me. He had six other boys with him.

"What…hey, isn't that…" one of the other boys looked at me and froze.

"Nikki! GET HER!" the other boy ordered, charging me.

Shit, they were junior's. I turned back the way I'd just come from, and froze up again. "Aww crap," I muttered, backing up a little. I just totally screwed up. Rose was gonna be pissed if I lost both my stakes within the first hour, not to mention Guardian Belikov.

"Got you now Hathaway," a girl with a very nasal voice taunted. Damn it she was so right.

I needed a distraction. What the hell was gonna be big or scary enough to distract this lot? They'd put blood thirsty strigoi to shame, I should know…these kid's weren't blood thirsty though, they were stake hungry.

It was hasty thinking, but it was the best I could do. They wanted a stake, and I had the stakes. Rose wouldn't be mad if I only lost one…I pulled out a stake and hurled it through the window I'd just climbed out of, and they all went after it like flies to a light. Classic…

I turned and started jogging in the direction of the oval, not wasting the time I'd brought myself. Which apparently wasn't very much. They were back after me before I'd even turned out of sight. I shouldn't have been jogging, I should've been sprinting.

I started sprinting as fast and hard as I could towards the oval, and sighed in relief when it came into view. Rose was walking towards me with another senior boy, and when she turned around to look back at me she froze. She started talking to the boy next to her harshly, then handed him a stake and seemed to be bracing herself for battle. Great…

"Rose!" I called. "We're going to fight them, aren't we?"

She nodded. "Don't hurt them though," she said when I came to a halt next to her and her friend. "You lost a stake?"

Damn, she noticed."Yeah…they cornered me and I threw one out a window, they went after it like a dog to a bone." I chuckled, taking an offensive stance.

"Alright junior's, listen up." Rose commanded, and they all stopped a meter in front of us. "We're going to fight you. There's three of us, and three stakes. If you take us down, the stakes yours. You've got to be fair though, no more then two on one at a time." Two on one was _fair_? I guess, seeing as they're junior's…

"Dibs on Hathaway!" a few called. Two tall, muscular boys with black and brown hair strutted up to Rose. "Us two verse you." The one with black hair said, sounding absurdly cocky.

"Your exam," Rose grinned and swung her leg around, tripping them both over easily.

"The rules are," Rose continued. "If your back, ass, or stomach makes contact with the ground," she peered down at the two boys laying flat on their asses. "You're out. You can come back in second round."

The two boys she'd just eliminated started grumbling and went to sit down behind us while another six junior's stepped forward as challengers. I had the girl with the ugly nasal voice and a gangly tall boy that seriously needed to get down to the gym.

"Good luck," I said, smiling.

The girl with the nasal voice snapped her fingers and said "Save it for someone who needs it,"

I grinned, and nodded. She glowered. I threw a kick at her stomach, and when she went to block it I took out her knee's with my arm, dropping her flat on her back. "Better luck next time," I gave her a mock salute and turned to the gangly boy.

It went on like that for about half an hour, and then Rose's half had there go. Rose's friend –whose name was Eddie, apparently – was trying to be nice to a junior girl named Tamika, and she punched him in the face before knocking him on his ass. Rose applauded her for that, and Eddie glowered at her.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm defenseless," she stuck her tongue out and went to go sick down with her recently acquired stake.

"Sorry Rose," Eddie muttered, going to join the junior's. "I should've known she'd attack as harsh as you would," he turned to her. "Nice job," he nodded and she beamed.

After another half an hour two male of the junior's I was fighting decided to work together. One of them attacked while the other one jumped on my back and ripped me down to the ground. Hurt like a bitch but it was good planning. They decided they both got credit for it as well, which Rose highly approved of.

After another hour of watching Rose kick ass after ass Dimitri came out to find where his students had gone to.

"What's going on here?" he asked me as we watched Rose knock another junior on his back.

"We got tired of running, so we started fighting. Eddie helped us out because we only had three stakes left. No-one's been able to get Rose's though," I yawned.

"Four people at a time on Rose now junior's." he announced, gesturing for another two people to join in the fight.

"You think that'll help them?" Rose chuckled, using her leg-sweep move to knock all for of them over. "They'll give up long before I do, and you know it." She didn't even sound tired for Christ sakes!

"Fine then," Dimitri turned to the junior's in business mode. "If you haven't got a stake and you're game enough to take Rose, you can all pile her."

Only four more of the fifty odd junior's stood up to go join in. The others groaned and stayed sitting, looking tired and beat up.

"I've got a better game," Rose announced. After that she pulled out her stake and threw it as far as she could. "Go fetch,"

The rest of the junior's flew up and started sprinting for the stake, while Rose, Dimitri, Eddie, Tamika, the two boys that tag-teamed me and myself, of course just sat there laughing.

"What are you gonna put them threw next, Guardian Belikov?" I asked enthusiastically. Sure, it was hard work. But it was a hell of a lot of fun, that's for sure.

"Well, they never got around to the obstacle course, so after lunch they'll be doing that. I'd like you three, including Eddie, to help me out with that too please."

"Sure," Rose answered instantly.

"I'm in if Rose is." Eddie said.

"Same here," I said.

The junior's came back with annoyed expressions on their faces. Well, all except for one boy who was grinning widely and holding a stake in the air.

"Jackson, of course. The kid with the awesome bailing skills," Rose announced, grinning widely.

**ROSE POV**

All of the junior's were on their way back now, all looking very glum except for one. Jackson was grinning widely, holding his stake high above his head.

"Jackson, of course. The kid with the awesome bailing skills," I announced, grinning widely at him.

Dimitri told them all to go have lunch and to be back at the gym immediately afterwards. Eddie and Nikki tagged along with the junior's, but I went to help Dimitri pack away all the items the junior's had taken out to throw at me earlier.

"You don't have to help Rose," he said once everyone else was gone and we were walking back to the gym.

"I don't have to, but I want to." I countered, rocking my arms back and forth.

"That doesn't sound like you at all; you don't volunteer to help people." He teased.

"Not _people_, just one person in particular."

He sighed. "I thought I'd lost you the other day Roza…after you promised you wouldn't leave my side until they were gone, you go and get yourself kidnapped. Lissa caught me…being emotion…" he glowered at the grass like each blade was a razor.

"We're even now. You got yourself turned strigoi, and I nearly turned into a house pet. For now on, we stick together." We were just entering the gym now.

"Deal." He smiled down at me.

"Hey, did you know I love you?" I tried not to say it, but I honestly couldn't help myself. I wanted so badly for him to hold me in his arms, and it hurt so badly not being able to.

He smiled warmly, reaching down for my hand. "I love you too, Roza. больше тогда моей собственной жизни."

"What's that last part mean?" I muttered, frowning.

He did something that made me want to melt then: he pulled me into his arms, crushing me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around him, and wanting nothing more then to stay that way forever. "It means more then my own life, Roza."

We stood like that for another few minutes before he had to pry me from him so we could get some work done.

We finished with about ten minutes to spare, so he decided that I'd need to eat something if I was going to have enough energy for the next exam.

"Guardian Alto and Guardian Black will also be joining us for the next part." He told me as we walked to the cafeteria.

"So, what are all of us going to do? I asked, resisting the erg to reach out and snatch his hand.

"You, Nikki, and Eddie are going to be obstacles. The guardians participating will be marking the students on their performances and how far through they make it. Each student has a ten minute time limit; your objective is to slow them down. Who do you think would be harder to get through, Eddie or Nikki?"

"Probably Eddie, now that he knows not to go soft."

"Okay, you'll be placed in the course from easy to hard. Nikki first, then Eddie then you. Enjoy your lunch," heaved me off at the door.

Cool, I got to beat up more juniors. I pushed through the door into the commons and headed straight for the line. I got a ham and salad sand which with two bottles of water, one for lunch and one for the obstacle course. I hurried over to join Lissa and the other at our table, and froze.

"Mia?" I said, continuing on my path. "Mia is that you?"

"Rose!" she chimed. That was definitely Mia. "I missed you! What took you so long?" she asked as I sat down.

"I missed you too Mia. And I'm sorry; I was cleaning up the gym for the juniors. Me and Eddie are gonna be part of their obstacle course. What about you, what are you doing here? I thought you lived at the royal court now?" I sat down at the table and started munching away at my sandwich.

"Yeah I do, but my dad wants me to finish school here. Got the day off though, so I'm just sitting around in my dorm."

"Come watch the juniors do their field experience," I suggested. "I recon it'd be pretty funny watching, they're gonna be fighting their way through Nikki, Eddie and me, in that order."

"Do you think they'd let me?" she perked up.

"I don't see why not, you wouldn't be doing any harm." I shrugged, taking a swig of my water to wash the ham, salad, and bread down. "Just come down with me, Nikki, and Eddie after lunch."

"Speaking of which," Eddie interrupted. "We need to go, Rose." he and Nikki stood up.

"Right," I stood up and so did Mia. We had to start running after I finished my lunch, or we would have been late.

"Are these your _reliable_ helpers then, Guardian Belikov?" Stan asked Dimitri, waving at us.

"Sorry we're late," I said. "Ran into an old friend. Can Mia watch the juniors do their exam? She doesn't have classes today."

Stan looked at Mia. "You two are _friends_ now? When did that happen?" his frowned in confusion, and both Mia and I laughed.

"Long story, so she can stay, right?" I prompted.

"I guess so, but don't be distractive Miss Ranaldi, or we'll have to send you back to your dorm." He nodded to a spare seat and she sat down quickly, thanking him.

"You three go get into position." Dimitri said, taking Eddie and Nikki to there sections of. I already knew where mien was, though. So I could walk myself there like a big girl.

"Alright juniors. This part of the exam you will be put through a series of obstacles. The course has been split into three different sections, ranging from easy to hard. Each of these sections has a senior volunteer that will be in charge of making sure that you _don't_ get past them. You have ten minutes to make it as far through the course as possible. You will be marked on the tactic's you use, and your ability to out maneuver the senior's. Which section you make it also contributes to your overall score, but in the most part the different area's are just a way for us to distribute points fairly to the standard difficulty. Any questions?"

"Yeah, do we get extra points if we take out one of the senior's?" a girl with an ugly nasal voice asked, glaring at Nikki harshly. Nikki laughed at that, and I wondered what happened between them.

"You certainly do. But I'd be more concerned about them taking you out. Any other questions?"

"Rose isn't actually going to try and kill us, is she?" a tall gangly boy asked in a nervous voice. I laughed out loud at that, unable to keep it in.

"Don't worry kiddo, I won't kill you unless you turn strigoi." I answered his question and he sighed in relief, but blushed a little with embarrassment.

"Any other questions?" Dimitri waited about ten seconds. "Okay then. Guardian Alto will call your names out,"

Stan cleared his throat. "First up, Aidan Cave." A _very_ tall muscular boy with very dark skin stood up grinning.

The instant Dimitri hit the start button of the stopwatch and said go he took off charging – literally – straight at Nikki. Nikki looked a little panicked at first, but then he tripped over a hurdle and face planted, knocking himself unconscious.

The first fifteen juniors had trouble making it to Eddie, none of them even came close to my section of the course.

Of course it wasn't easy.

The easy section was made up of three large hurdles at the beginning, a short rope climb and then a swing that landed on top of a narrow wooden beam. On the beam there were three hoops. Once they got down from the beam they had to takeout two of the dummies that Dimitri used to show me how to use a stake. And of course, they had to do this with Nikki attacking them.

The medium section started with hoop chains that they had too swing through, after that there were a few hurdles like the easy section, but they were both wider and taller. They then had to army crawl under a tarp, if the touched to tarp Eddie was aloud to smack them with a wooden staff which was pretty harsh. And obviously Eddie would be attacking them throughout that section to.

The hard section was all off ground. There was a small circular trampoline that they had to jump on the reach the rope. They had to climb to the top of the rope too a very narrow beam, which is where I was waiting. If the got past me, they had to climb down a rock wall too a conveyer belt set to run them backwards, like a treadmill. From there they had to climb up on some bars that had hoops hanging at different heights. If they missed a hoop I was allowed to pull them down on their asses. And as expected, they'd be fending me off the entire time.

So far, not even one novice had made it through to me, which meant that I was bored out of my brain. We were down to the last ten now, and we had two juniors make it trough to me. Tamika and Jackson, ironically enough. It hurt me to knock them off the beam and onto the mattresses laid out on the floor, but it's what it's had to do.

"Nikki's having all the fun, Eddie. We got scammed." I grumbled after I jumped down off the beam to wait with Eddie. "They've got ten minutes to get through her yet none of them can…" I sighed, sitting down with Eddie.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty old pretty fast." He grumbled, putting his chin in his hand.

"Well, you got more action then I did. I only got to knock two juniors off the beam, you got at least ten. I got two, and they had next to no time left."

Dimitri started making his way over to us. "You have to stay ready. There's still three left. It's unfair to them if you mess up their exams."

"Like any of them are gonna make it through to me." I grumbled as Eddie stood up. "I'll stand up when Eddie's having trouble."

"Rose," he sounded serious.

"Fight me." I sighed, pulling myself up off the floor.

"Okay," I looked up to see what he meant, and just barely dodged his fist.

"What the hell was that?" I hissed, taking a few steps back.

"You said _'fight me'_, so I'm fighting you." He jumped at me again and I ran for the trampoline.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

He chuckled. "Too bad," he started climbing up the rope after me. "It's your turn to make it through the course. Your main obstacle is _me_." He growled playfully.

"Guess I'm gonna ace this then," I said tauntingly, running to the end of the beam and climbing swiftly down the rock wall. He was only a few steps behind me. "Okay…maybe not." I threw a kick towards his face, and he caught my leg with no problem, pulling me toward him then dropping me on the mat.

"This exam is made for juniors, Rose." He chuckled. "You _should_ be able to ace this. But you won't. Because I won't let you." He was sitting on my back now, making it almost impossible to move.

"Fine! God you suck Dimitri. Get off me!" I grumbled, trying to push him off me. I wouldn't have minded him being on top of me in any other position, but this was just embarrassing.

"Nope. And watch where you put those hands of yours." He grabbed my hands, restraining me from tenderizing his ass any further.

I sighed, giving up. "What do I have to do to get you off me?"

"Nothing. You just have to work out how to over throw me. Don't worry about packing up Guardian Alto! Rose can take care of that."

"Alright," Stan called back to Dimitri.

"It's over?"

"Yep,"

"But you're still sitting on me?"

"Yep,"

"Are you going to get off?"

"Nope,"

"Damn it Dimitri! Get off!"

"Nope."

I groaned in frustration. We had the gym all to ourselves and no-one was going to be back for another twelve hours, yet all he could think of doing was sitting on me.

He chuckled darkly. "I know what you're thinking, and I'll make you a deal. You get me off within the next five minutes, and you can do what you want tonight." He taunted, setting to stopwatch.

That offer sounded way too good to be true. There had to be a catch. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. I'll keep my end of the deal. But I know you've got no chance. Ready? Go." He pressed the button and I started thrashing around like a maniac. I had a very sly maneuver that I was positive would work.

I started coughing uncontrollably and started having trouble breathing.

"It won't work Rose, I know you can breath fine."

I kept coughing and struggling for air.

"Stop it Rose! It won't work!" he growled, he's voice was slightly anxious.

I exhaled all of the air in my lungs and held perfectly still, not breathing, and closed my eyes, relaxing all the muscles in my body.

"Rose?" he asked frantically. "Rose!" he jumped off me, rolling me over. And then the stopwatch went off.

"Aaalllllll night." I grinned up at him, and he sighed in relief, but was slightly annoyed at the same time.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" he ordered, scooping me up into a warm hug.

"Don't tempt me like that again," I retorted, laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back at school this guys, so I'm sorry if i get a bit slow. I've got heaps of assignments and exams happening, but I'll still be trying to keep up with Rose and Dimitri., and the rest of the gang of course...**

**Anyways, big credits to freddy-bean-beast for the whole thing with Rose and Dimitri there with there 'special alone time.' That idea was too hilarious to pass up. Thanks freddy!  
**

**I have to apologize again, for the length of this chapter. It wasshoter then i would have liked because i was in a bit of arush. i hope you like it though :]**

**xxx enjoy your read~  
**

* * *

After me and Dimitri finished packing away a days hard work, he tried making excuses for how it would be wrong to take _advantage _of such a _defenseless_ man. Referring to Dimitri as defenseless was like referring to Christian as a gentleman. They were both down right hilarious.

"You shouldn't be taking advantage of someone like myself." He said, his voice very stern. He even looked utterly serious. He put on the whole flawless-badass-guardian-self-control thing perfectly. But I saw straight through it.

"Okay. I get it. You don't want me. I won't force you to do anything you don't _want_ to. Good night guardian Belikov." I said, pushing out of his arms, collecting my bag and headed straight for the door with my head held high. He hadn't moved since I pushed away.

"I…what?" he said, sounding so confused and lost that I nearly cracked and gave away the whole I-don't-want-you-if-you-don't-want-me act. I felt a pang of guilt too, but I shuffled it away and endured the amusement.

I said nothing more as I strolled down the path towards the novice dorms. I flinched a little when I heard the gym door swing open, though.

"Rose wait!" he called, jogging over to me.

"Yes guardian Belikov?" I kept my face blank and stared straight ahead, still walking with a fake determination to get as far away from him as I could. "What do you want, sir?"

"Roza," his voice was apologetic as he grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "I'm sorry. I was kidding…" he's eyes were puppy dog sad, and I had to struggle so hard not to jump at him.

"I'd like to go to sleep now guardian Belikov. So if you don't have any direct orders, I'd like to leave now." My voice was calm, which amazed me. If I screwed up being a guardian, I could probably be a kick ass actor.

"But…Rose…okay. I'm sorry, I'll -" he cut off, staring me in the eye. And I cracked, bursting out with hysterical laughter.

"My god! You should have seen your face! You looked so sad and guilty! I would have killed for a damn camera!" he stood there perfectly still, glaring at me, which only made me laugh harder.

"Rose…" he growled. I stopped laughing, really looking at him for the first time. "1…2…" Shit! not this again.

I took off running towards the gym and started climbing up the same rope I'd climbed to hide from the junior novices earlier. Dimitri and I had a very scary but fun way of playing hide-and-go-kill. I pissed him off, and he'd give me a certain amount of time to bail.

The gym doors burst open as his furious figure appeared through the door. "Hide-and-go-kill's old news, Rose!" he yelled into the hall, searching everywhere. "This is hide-and-go-torture!"

Shit…he sounded really pissed off.

He grinned widely, pulling his shirt off. Damn it! Every god damn time I find a good hiding place, he'd always cheat like that. Slowly undressing himself just to piss me off! If he kept going like that, I'd probably fall out of the roof and smash into the ground, meeting my gory doom.

"You know you want to lose, Rose." He chuckled. Yes, I very much did want to lose. But if I lost that meant he was in control, if he lost _I_ got to be in control. Dimitri kept boundaries that he'd never let us cross, but _I_ liked taking things to the extreme. "Why hide from it?"

So the rules of the game are as follows: I piss him off, or arouse him to much. He starts counting, giving me a time limit based on how tempted he is to jump me. I run as fast as I can to go hide so that I can control whatever may follow our game. And usually, I cave in before he shows any signs of failure.

So he was right. _Why was I hiding from it?_ I asked myself. _Because Dimitri has limits!_ I screamed back at myself.

He untied the loose sweatpants he was wearing for training, letting them fall just enough to show how perfect his ass was, and how gorgeous he looked in red boxers. "Don't leave me down here by myself," he murmured, lowering himself to the ground and spreading out nicely. "It's very cold." He snickered again, pushing the sweatpants a little further down.

Damn it! "Ugh! So not cool, Dimitri. You're such a cheat!" I scolded him, sliding down the rope to the floor, allowing myself to drop into a sitting position when I neared the edge. "Next time I want to be the seeker. We'll see how long you last against _my_ temptations." I growled, remembering that night while I was with Jesse and Dimitri had busted us. The way he totally froze up when he saw my semi-naked body.

He chuckled. "What happened to all of that self-control I taught you, Rose?"

I got to my knee's and started crawling over to magnificent immobile body. "What's self-control? I'm not familiar with that term…" I said, scratching my head. As I reached him I melted, losing the strength in both my arms and legs and face planning into the floor. "Honestly, you need to wear a warning sign." I muttered, dragging myself the rest of the distance between us and laying my head against his chest.

"Sorry Roza. If I wear I warning sign you might think I'm dangerous." He purred into my hair.

"Speaking of self-control…we probably shouldn't do this here. We should go somewhere like…oh say that magical little cabin." I started planting little kisses on his perfectly sculptured chest.

He moaned a little, and I thought I'd had an easy victory. "Roza…you know we can't. I have patrol in…" he peeked down at his watch. "Half an hour," he sighed in frustration.

I slapped his chest, glaring. "Do you get a kick out of tormenting me?" I hissed, flinging myself to my feet so I was scowling down at him. I huffed, turned around and started jogging for the door. _Why was the man I loved so god damn cruel?_ I hissed at myself mentally.

"Rose!" he called after me, all but tackling me against the wall. Half an hour, and _you're in control._" Sure as hell wasn't buying that.

"Bullshit." I glared him in the eyes, trying to find evidence of his lie. "You'd never allow that."

"_Anything _you want. That was our deal, remember?"

That's right. We had a deal, and I'd totally forgotten about it…I couldn't hold back the dark chuckle that escaped my lips. "_Anything_?"

He nodded, confirming my statement. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, breathing into my ear "_Anything you want._"

Oh this was going to be fun.

***

I sent him off to the cabin on his own and hurried back to my dorm to collect the appropriate equipment. Half an hour wasn't nearly enough time to satisfy my need to be with him, but it could get me through the week without needing to prank anyone.

"What's in the bag?" he asked curiously, pulling me into his arms.

"A few item's I've saved for moments like these…" I giggled, picturing him when I was finished. "Now sit." I commanded, pushing him down on a chair. He pulled me down with him so I was placed neatly on his lap. "Nope. This is your chair; I need to be standing up for this." I unhinged his steel grip and pushed off.

"You're making me sit all by myself?" he pouted, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

"Just shut up and take it like a man," I chuckled. _Take it like a _man_ indeed._

I set to work, doing a rush job but still making everything look absolutely fabulous. It was a fifteen minute job, but he looked sexy nonetheless.

"Ta-dah!" I giggled, handing him the mirror I'd packed. The look on his face as he took in all four plated piggy tails was priceless. Not to mention the baby pink lip stick, purple eye shadow and raccoon style eyes, complete with foundation and blush. I didn't bother with the lingerie, I knew I wouldn't have anything that'd fit him. "Well, if I may say so myself, I think you look pretty god damn sexy." It wasn't a lie; no matter how girly I made him look he'd always be too sexy for his own good.

"Well," he started, putting the mirror down and pulling me to him. "As long as I have _you_," he pulled me down on top of him, causing the blood to rush to my cheeks. Probably looked like we were about to have some sort of weirdo chair sex. "It doesn't matter what _I_ look like." He bent on to kiss me, but to both out dismay I stopped him.

"You'll smudge your lipstick!" I chided. He chuckled and pressed his lips to my, wrapping his arms around my chest and pressing me to him. And, as usual I swung my arms around his neck, intertwining my fingers in his absurdly gorgeous hair. His hair was so soft... "I love you."

"As I love you…" he murmured. "But…" he sighed in frustration, breaking our kiss and pressing his forehead to mine so our noses were touching, and I could taste his breath. "I can't show up for my patrol looking like a Barbie doll."

"Just say the girls down at the elementary campus caught you off guard and got revenge for whatever tortures you've put them through." I frowned, tightening my grip around his neck. "Call in sick for your patrol," I grinned. "I'm good with makeup as you can see; I bet I could give you chicken pox."

"I can't do that, it's my-"

"Duty," I sighed, pulling back to stand up. "I know, no more Zen lessons today, comrade."

He smiled. "Sorry. Come help me wash this off." He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the sink with him.

Once we cleaned him off and fixed his hair back up I realized I forgotten a crucial element to style: the hair glitter.

"Okay, I think that's all of it." He declared, strutting over to me.

I took a pinch of the glitter and crushed his lips to mine with what would appear to be a desperate sort of kiss. I waited for his response, and when he kissed me back I sprinkled the glitter over his hair. Let's see him wash _that_ out in under a week.

"Sorry." He pushed me away and took my hand. "It's go time." We walked together towards to area of the campus he'd have patrol.

"Hello guardian Belikov." Stan greeted Dimitri in the usual formal guardian way, and I took my leave.

"Guardian Alto. Sorry I'm late, I had to finish packing away the equipment in the gym from the juniors field exam, Hathaway was helping."

"You're only a minute late. No worries. Is that glitter in your hair?" Stan's voice sounded amused. I giggled as I rounded the corner heading towards my dorm. I was going to pay for that, but it was so worth it.

I heard a shuffle in the tree's next to me, and a few twigs snapping. "Whose there!?" I squeaked, pulling out my stake. It was silly to pull out my stake though, seeing as it was day time and no strigoi could get me.

Something moved behind me and I heard I weird humming sound. I spun around, whirling my stake with me. More twigs snapped, and I spun around the other direction. "Whoever the fuck it is cut it out, or I _will_ kill you." I growled, taking up a crouching position. I must've looked and sounded a lot braver then a felt, because the noises stopped and so did everything else.

I straightened back up and sighed, beginning to head for my dorm again, walking faster this time. I weird feeling flushed through me, and there was a sharp pain in my neck. "Nighty night little dhampire," I sickly sweet child's voice chimed, giggling shortly after. I turned to see who'd stabbed me, but all I could make out was a short, pale figure. And then I was engulfed by shadows.

***

**(Rose's Dream/Flashback)**

"Excuse me miss," the sobbing child tugged on my arm.

I peered down at him and smiled. "Yes? What's wrong?" The tears were streaming down his face, but he was smiling happily.

"Can you take me to see my mother? My father told me that people like you could help people like me." He's voice was cheerful too. What a freaky little kid…

"People like me?" I asked. Sure, I would have understood if he were a Moroi, but he was too tanned to be a Moroi.

"The shadows that follow you. Daddy said you died, but that you ran away from the rest of us. He said you could take me to mummy. Daddy said that you're a bad girl, and shouldn't have run away from us." He's voice had aslight angry edge to it.

So he was a ghost? Then how the hell was he tugging on my arm? and he'd have to be the first ghost I'd seen smiling… "I'm sorry I ran away. I wasn't…_ready_ to die then. And I'm also sorry but I don't think I can take you too your mother, I need to get on that bus over there."

Well, that did it. The threw himself to the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. "TAKE ME NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!" he screamed.

"Err…" hissy fit chucking toddler ghosts take can touch me, talk and walk around smiling. Talk about creepy… "I'm going now…bye." I took off towards the bus station, eager to leave the screaming toddler behind.

"NO!" he screamed, latching on to my leg. "NO! If you don't help me, I'll make you pay." His voice went angelic, and he let go of my leg.

"Look kid I'm sorry, but I can't!" a few heads turned to look at me, talking to my leg. Embarrassment much? "Now get lost!" I hissed, lowering my voice.

He stood up and pulled my face down. "I can't wait to see you again, Rose. Bye bye!" the toddler skipped off, and then disappeared like he'd never been there.

Jeez. I mean sure I'd seen creepy ghosts, but that was actually kind of scary. Little toddlers threatening to 'make me pay' aren't really in my best interest. But what's he gonna do? The ghost can't touch me, and he wouldn't be able to talk to any others that were shadow kissed. The ghosts can't touch me…well, _that_ ghost had touched me. _And_ it'd screamed at me. Crap. I just pissed off a ghost…

**(Rose's Dream/Flashback Part.2)**

Why the fuck am I in a graveyard? Sure, plenty of strigoi were hiding out here, the nauseous feeling totally gave that away. But I'd also be surrounded by ghosts: distractions. It'd be so easy to screw up and die here. And I couldn't allow that to happen.

"Excuse me miss," a female voice said.

I spun around, stake at the ready and found myself eye to eye with a very pissed off looking female ghost. She was probably only thirteen or so when she died. And my stake was in her side. "Sorry about that, thought you were a strigoi." I pulled my stake out and steeped back. "Oh…another touching talking ghost." I sighed, remembering the screaming toddler's threats. Talk about the _terrible two's_… "What do you want?"

"He was right, you are a bitch." She scoffed, disappearing into air. What the fuck?

**(Reality)**

Stretching out my muscles, I had the feeling I'd been asleep for a very long time. It was day (night time for the rest of the world) out, but the sky was covered in storm clouds and it was pissing down rain. And I was lying in the grass because…well, what the fuck happened to me? I tried thinking back, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd been awake.

Stiff muscles, growling stomach, and desert dry throat. I needed food, water and exercise immediately.

"Is anybody out here!?" a man's voice called. "Anyone, damn it!" he rounded the corner and froze, pointing a gun out me. "Talk or die." He hissed, taking a step back.

"Are you on drugs or something? Don't point that thing at me!" I growled, taking a few steps towards him. The boy was clearly a Moroi, probably one of the juniors. He had jet black her with dark blue eyes, and looked like he'd probably by a few centimeters taller then me. Hard to tell when he was standing so far away.

He lowered the gun and sighed. "First dhampire I've found conscious and kicking. Come on, let's get you to the church." He gestured for me to follow, but I just stood there.

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain when we get to the church." He frowned, gesturing for me to follow again.

"Fine," I grumbled, storming off in front of him. Something was tugging at the edge of my mind, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. What'd that guy say? "Hey," I slowed down and let him catch up. "What'd you say about dhampire's?" that was all I could pick off out of the tugging.

"You're the first conscious one I've found so far."

_The only one found conscious so far._ What the hell was that supposed to mean? "Can't you just tell me what's going on? I'm not very patient."

He sighed again. "The school was attacked by something a while ago now. Nobody knows when it happened exactly, or what did happen. But nearly everyone's gone, and most of the people we do find are all unconscious. The first of us to wake up was a girl called Alina, and she said she woke up about a week ago. She's the only one from the elementary campus awake so far."

_Dimitri._ I took off towards the gym at full speed, not giving a shit what came from where. If I was the only dhampire conscious, that meant I'd either lost Dimitri again, or he was lying down unconscious. Either one of those options was forbidden for me. Each possibility would feel like having the frail band-aids holding my heart together ripped off.

Bursting through the gym doors I froze. Before, six boys and one girl were running around between bodies. Living or dead I wasn't sure, but they weren't moving, that's for sure. Stepping forward towards the bodies I was mildly aware of someone calling my name, but the sound was being blocked out by the frantic throbbing of my heart.

I walked through the rows of bodies mindlessly, my eyes scarcely searching through their faces. The only thing my eyes saw was Dimitri. Lying still and unmoving, not breathing. Seeing him like that…I couldn't handle it. I wouldn't be able to. I'd either breakdown, or go back on my strigoi killing spree.

I grew more anxious with every passing face, until all the faces staring up at me weren't face, but blank skin. Maybe they hadn't found him yet…after all, it'd been a week since Alina woke up and I was just waking up today. Maybe Dimitri was waking up somewhere too. Just as I began feeling confident he was fine, I feel to my knees.

Dimitri.

He's body lay still, covered in a black woolen blanket. His face was pale and lifeless, eyes closed but glaring at the ceiling. Dimitri…

Everything I was feeling washed away, and I became just as lifeless and still as the beautiful statue of a man lying before me. I just barely felt my head hit the floor, but it didn't hurt. It couldn't, nothing was there to hurt. _What if he doesn't wake up, Rose? If he stays this way, he'll starve._ A sickly sweet child's voice whispered in my ear.

_No!_ I screamed back. _He will wake up! He has to!_ Warm tears began flowing from my eyes. I wasn't sure if I was awake or not, but it didn't feel like it. Or maybe I just hadn't woken up at all yet! Maybe I'd just started having a nightmare when I thought I'd woken up! That was plausible. After all, I'd had a life-like dream like this before. Just as I got to the academy, when I dreamt of finding Dimitri and having Alina bring him back for me.

I liked thinking like that. This was all just a nightmare that I had yet to wake up from. Dimitri was probably fine, walking around on patrol while I was lying in my bed asleep, tossing and turning at this nightmare. All I had to do was wait…

***

About a day passed before they started trying to force feed me. I hadn't even noticed Lissa, Eddie, Mia, Christian, and Nikki were also lying unconscious among the bodies. And it made me feel horrible to know that I had to force myself to care about them while Dimitri was hurt. I didn't stay lying there next to him the way I wish I could have, but I was certain that it would give me and him away.

Mia had woken up during that time, giving me more hope that Dimitri might have been next. But Christian had followed shortly after Mia, followed by Eddie. A few other's woke up, four more Moroi, Jesse and Ralf included, two novices and one guardian, Alberta. Lissa, Nikki and Dimitri still stayed still and statue like. Growing paler with each and every passing hour.

Eddie was currently trying to pry my mouth open while Mia stood on guard, waiting for my mouth to be opened wide enough for her to shove the apple she was holding in. "Damn it Rose! Eat something!" Eddie ordered.

I went to tell him to fuck off, but the instant I opened my mouth Mia jammed the apple in between my teeth.

"Finally!" she clapped, helping Eddie close my jam in a chewing motion. I chewed the apple ands wallowed it, causing both Eddie and Mia to smile in victory. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

I glared at the apple I'd taken a bite out of. It was a large green apple, and the bite I'd taken was almost half the size of the apple itself. "If I eat the rest will you piss off?" I muttered, turning my glare towards them.

"Just let her die of starvation," Christian suggested. "If she doesn't want to survive don't force her to try." For once I actually agreed with Christian.

"Why can't you two act like that?" I mumbled, taking a smaller bite out of the apple. I didn't really like green apples, but I couldn't taste it, so I didn't matter.

"Rose," Alberta's voice scolded me. "Remember your training. You're going to be a guardian in less then a week, so suck it up and start helping. You four are the next search party." Great. Mutter out a few words and half eat an apple and suddenly I'm back on duty. She was right though. Even if Dimitri was in trouble I shouldn't be neglecting my duties in a time of crisis.

Eddie must have spotted the resolve on my face and smiled at me. "She's back."

"You heard the lady, we've got work to do. Go grab a gun and hurry up. People could be freezing out there, or Moroi could be burning. We've got to find them." I barked out. I still felt the need to crumble to the ground, but I had it under control now. Plus, searching the grounds was a good idea, if whoever did this was still out there I'd be able to tear them to shreds.

It was night time (Day for the rest of the world) which meant with Christian and Mia tagging along we'd be limited to the shaded areas. Which wouldn't really be an issue with the horrible stormy weather we'd been having, the sun was no where to be seen.

They'd grabbed some guns and met back up with me just as I was exiting the gym. "I'm glad you're back, Rose." Mia linked her arm into mine, smiling cheerfully. "We were all worried about you. And I'm sure Lissa will wake up soon, so don't go all depressed and silent on us again."

Lissa? Oh, they thought I went catatonic because Lissa wasn't waking up. Thank god… "Sorry. It was…irrational of me to react like that. Won't happen again. I think we should check for more guardian's in their cool little HQ thing." I stated, turning us all sideways.

"Right. Alberta hasn't been able to make contact with anyone on the outside, and all the cars and buses are gone. If we can find someone that can fly we'd probably be able to get out of here." Christian muttered with his usually punk attitude.

"I hear Stan can fly a plane, but I don't know if I'd trust him enough." Eddie commented.

We headed up the stairs and into the guardian HQ. There were no guardians in there, but my name was spray painted on the wall with an arrow pointing down to a box. "Shit."


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, so this is chapter 9. I know you all got angry when i made Dimka go to sleep, but i needed to. But hear me out, i couldn't kill Dimitri off if i tried! I'd never stop crying if he died a second time, the entire reason i wrote this fanfic was so that i could have hope that he would come back in the fourth book...and to put an end to the constant flow of tears whenever i see/hear/think of his names.**

**I'd liek to say WELLDONE to Freddy, cause' you got halfway there with your guess ^^ can't say which bit, though. I'm not giving out any spoilers :]**

**This is where you start hating meee....I probably won't be able to post anything again until thursday/friday and i might not be able to during the weekend either! I'm so very sorry, but if i fail this term my mum said she'd BBQ my head and save a turkey for Christmas. I'm so very very very sorry, but i promise i'll make ip up to you somehow!**

**Now, just quickly before i let you go on and read, i have a question for Skylar.**

**What sort of Christmas story would you like? I think writing a Christmas story might be fun, so tell me how, when, and where you want it and i'll see what i can do :]**

**Okay, i'll shut up and let you read now. **

**Enjoy! xxx**

* * *

"Shit." I muttered, instantly ending whatever conversation the others had been having. I heard a few gasps.

_If you don't help me, I'll make you pay._ Those words ran through my head like a record getting stuck on a word. _If you don't help me, I'll make you pay._ Ghosts. But how? They couldn't have…the wards keep them out with the strigoi. But what else would be out to get me? I had a vengeful ghost or to and a world of strigoi, but they'd checked the wards and they were fine, so there was no way they could have done it.

Plus it was daylight.

"Rose!" Mia's hand slapped into my cheek. "Snap out of it!" she cried, shacking my shoulders. Snap out of what?

"Huh?" was all I could mutter. I strolled over to the box, picking it up and carting it over to one of the tables.

"Are you seriously going to open that?" Christian voice was panicked. "What if its like a bomb or something?"

"Christian." I said, turning to face him. "I don't know a single person that would want me dead that would kill me with a bomb. They'd use some sort of torture, but not a bomb." They already were using torture. They'd harmed Dimitri, and this was my only way of finding out who _they_ were. "If you're scared get lost," I muttered, sticking my fingers under the lid.

"I was just saying…" he muttered, stepping closer to get a better look. "Open it already." Hah! He was trying for his tough guy act again.

I snorted. "Loving the whole tough-guy thing." I opened the box lid and peeked in. there was a large brown envelope, another smaller box and a photo. I snatched the photo and shoved it down my top.

"What the hell was that?" Christian asked, staring at my chest.

"Eyes of the merchandise, just cause Lissa's out doesn't mean you gotta take the next best thing." I poked my tongue out in a very childish matter and he blushed. Oh…my…god…Christian just _blushed._ "I'd kill for a camera right now," I chuckled, examining the blush. "You pop a blood vessel or what?"

"Shut up and open them!" he growled, jabbing a finger at the contents of the box.

I chuckled again, lifting the envelope out of the box. It was kind of heavy, but other then that it looked normal. That and the fact my name was written on it in dried blood. I opened it up, dumping the contents on the table. Two sheets of paper, another photo and a CD dropped out.

Instinctively, I ripped the photo off the table to examine it, and again shoved it down my top.

"Would you stop shoving the clues down your top?" Christian scolded. "What's on the photo's that we can't see?" he glared at me, searching my eyes for answers.

I ignored him, picking up one of the sheets of paper. It had written:

**Dearest Rose.**

**I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you've broken out  
of your little zombie stupor over lover boy now, eh? If not, then  
this isn't Rose, and I'd like the following message to be delivered  
to her as soon as she's capable of speech. If that seems to be  
taking a little longer then you'd like, just tell her that It'll help  
Dimitri and I'm sure you'll get a response out of her. Anyway,  
getting back to the assumption that this is Rose.**

**Yes, what's happened is indeed your fault young one. You've  
made enemies far and wide among out world because of your  
little quest to save your precious Dimka. Don't you think you  
were acting irrationally? I mean come on! He was your first time  
child, and he's much too old for you. Think of how disappointed  
your mother would be? **

**I'll stop babbling on and get to the point, as I assume your ill-  
temper's kicking in and you're getting a little pissed off, because  
I mentioned something that could help Dimitri. That's a very simple  
question with a very simple answer: YOU. Why, you ask. Because  
you my dear a Rose Hathaway! THE Rose Hathaway. Have you any  
idea how many Moroi I could trade for your life? Of course that's  
another issue. You've probably noticed most of your school is  
missing. I assure you they are all fine, for now. We will release them  
in return for you. But, to make this interesting, when you hand  
yourself over – and yes, I am quite positive that you WILL hand  
yourself over, - I'm going to make you choose. You can save the  
man you think you love, or stick to the code and save the Moroi.**

**Pick wisely young guardian. **Mistress Nicole.

"Why would they threaten you with Dimitri?" Mia mumbled, peering at the paper over my shoulder. "The man you…holy shit! You've got the hots for your mentor?"

Oh for fuck stakes! Was it possible for this day to get any worse!? "No fucking way. That would be…" she was giving me that I'm-not-as-stupid-as-I-look glare. "Ugh! I swear Mia, and Eddie and Christian for that matter. If any of you tell a soul, and I swear I'll rip you all limb from limb. Do we have an understanding?"

They nodded obediently as I retrieved the second piece of paper. All this one said was:

**If you find yourself in need of a DVD player for that  
little movie of mine, then open that box. You'll see  
that even being even I have some sort of dead,  
frozen heart. ENJOY!**

Ugh. What was going to be on that disc? Better not take any chances. "Alright boys." I turned to Eddie and Christian. "You two go search the rest of the HQ, it's still possible that there's others left. Mia, you can watch the DVD I guess…" Mia grinned, but Christian and Eddie headed off for the door, grumbling something about girls being sexist.

"Alright," I grabbed the box that supposedly contained a mini DVD player. Opening it up I pulled out a small black portable DVD player. Cool, I could keep it afterwards…getting back on track I stuck the disc in and hit play.

The screen went blue, and then went into one of those old '3, 2, 1' countdowns; compete with the fake radar thing. Once the countdown was over, an ancient strigoi appeared on the screen, sitting on a chair. Ancient she may have been, but she looked about fifteenish. She was smiling and staring straight at the camera like we were all going to be best friend for _eternity_.

"Mistress Nicole," I muttered, taking a guess at her identity.

"Greetings young one." She began, standing up and walking over to a light blue door. "This little home movie is simply to show you that we aren't lying about your peer's safety. Well, of course they aren't safe, but they haven't been harmed." She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The door opened into what looked like some sort of hall, the walls of which were lined with strigoi. Filling every other space available were the kidnapped students from the academy and all the missing guardians. The guardians looked pretty pissed off about being helpless, along with the novices. And the Moroi…well, most of the Moroi were bawling there eyes out.

"You see?" her face looked amused, which pissed me right off. "They're all fine. And we will release every single one of them if you choose them, or you could pick Dimitri. And all you have to do is give yourself to me. There will be a phone number at the end of this video, call it for further instructions. If you don't come alone we'll slaughter every last one of them. Let that be your warning.

She walked off then, leaving to camera man to survey each and every individual captive they had. I recognized most of them, which made it hurt that much more. At the end of the video the number showed up as she'd promised, and I hit the pause button.

"Well…I guess I know what I have to do." I glanced around the room looking for a phone. Nothing…

"Rose," Mia said, picking up a small cell phone out of the box and tossing it to me.

"Thanks," I smiled at her before turning back to the screen. I dialed in the number and waited for an answer. She answered on thesecond ring.

"You're up! I didn't expect you too wake up for another couple of days, truly amazing!" her voice was enthusiastic in a mega-creepy way. "I trust you've made your decision then?"

Shit…well, what should I do? A voice at the back on my voice was screaming out Dimitri's name, but at the front of my mind it was Dimitri's voice that won out. I could just imagine how furious he'd be if I picked him over them. "I wish to save…the captives you took," it killed me to say it, and tears started to swell up in my eyes. Dimitri…

"As I knew you would!" she giggled. "Okay Rose. We'll let them go one we have you, so hears what you've got to do," she started blabbing out a location that they'd pick me up from and how long I had to get there. I had to really concentrate to hear her. "I'll see you soon then Rose!" she hung up.

"Good bye Mia," I said, sticking the phone in my pocket and storming off towards the schools front gates. If I was giving Dimitri up for the well being of my school, then at least I'd share the same fate as him, and we could be together once again, with nothing to hold us back.

**DIMITRI POV**

Waking up my muscles screamed in protest as I jumped to my feet, taking in my surroundings.

I was in the school gym, surrounded by bodies. A few students were rushing around between the bodies, swatting sweat from foreheads and fluffing pillows. Alberta was the only guardian in sight.

"Dimitri!" her voice was relieved as she started towards me. "Thank god you're awake. I need the help."

"What happened here?" I asked, searching for her face among the bodies.

"There was an attack against the school, almost everyone is gone. Including the guardians. Those of us who are left are either unconscious or confused,"

Everyone's gone? No! "How?" my voice grew hard as my searching became anxious.

"Hathaway's not here anymore…" she said. How…

"What makes you think I'm looking for her?" I felt my heart tearing itself apart, but manage not to give anything away.

"We all know now Dimitri, she had to tell us. The attackers left her a package with instructions. She had to pick between your life and the schools, she choose the schools. Which…how are you alive then?" she frowned, looking back at the past.

"She did _what_?" I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice, there was too much to contain…

"She's giving herself to them in order to have the captives released, there was nothing more any of us could do."

Roza. My Roza gone, given herself up to the fouls hands of the strigoi in order to help others. And these people stood by and let her, after al of the sacrifices she's made for them, they just let her walk into the hands of death. "Do you have a location?"

She shook her head. "All we know is that they are being kept in a hall of some sort. There was a DVD-"

"Where is the DVD?" I demanded, cutting her off. She gestured for me to follow her and lead me to a small desk that had a little portable DVD player on it. I watched the movie, waiting impatiently for some information. "Mistress Nicole," I hissed. That bitch… I hit the pause button, glaring at the faded walls of the room. _Balashov community hall._

That's all I needed.

**ROSE POV**

Dimitri…

I couldn't believe I was just going to let him die…_"Mistress Nicole. She wants your head on a platter for all of the damaged you've caused in our society." _Fucking strigoi.

I finally get Dimitri back, get Lissa and all of my friends back and get given a sister. School gets cool, the guardians respect me and now this. Happiness was always just out of reach, and whenever I caught it it'd slip straight through my butter coated fingers, smashing into millions of fragile pieces. Why did this world have to be so fucking cruel?

Why did they have to use Dimitri to get to me? Why did they have to get to _me_?

I pulled into the parking lot and steeped out of the car. Looking at my wrist watch I checked the time. One more minute, let's see if they're late. Or early…

A shiny black van pulled up beside me and the door slid open. I didn't ask questions as I jumped in, closing the door behind me.

"Guess the whole selfless guardian thing was true." A male strigoi with sandy blonde hair said to a female strigoi with long straight brown hair. "Didn't even wait for us to tell her to get in."

"She's just stupid. Any other guardian would've tried to figure out some way to get them all back, they'd rely on something other then the word of their enemies. Guess she just got lucky. I still can't believe Mistress Nicole's gonna let them all go." She looked over at me and smirked. "Sure as hell must suck to be you."

I ignored her and continued glaring out the window. Yeah, it sure as hell did suck being me. But nothing was going to change that. I'd be dead soon, and hopefully I'd be able to stay with Dimitri when I got to heaven…if I even made it to heaven.

"Not very talkative, huh?" the male jabbed my knee with his foot. It probably would have hurt if I had any feelings left.

"She looks like some freaky zombie girl. So depressed. Guilt and helplessness is forming an aura around how, how pitiful." The female snickered, glaring at me. "The big tough Rose Hathaway, your tale's gonna be told around campfires for the next fifty years. Might make some history books, too. Well, at least you'll die famous."

I continued to say nothing, and this seemed to annoy her.

"Fucking hell say something you freak!" she growled, standing up off her chair.

"Temper, Jess. Watch your temper. Are they going to kill her? I thought the Mistress was going to trade her in to Alex for forty good Moroi feeders and a few dhampires." The male said.

Jess sat down again, her face relaxing. "That Alex guy is such a freak. As if you'd trade that much blood for a girl that he's just going to turn into a house pet." She sighed, shaking her head in frustration. "Sure she's pretty. But there's definitely better looking girls out there. And he could have any of them for free. So whys he want this one?"

"Cause she's famous. And cause she's lethal. He'll keep her a few years, train her up and then change her. If she's this tough now, imagine how deadly she's gonna be when she's got super strength."

"Yeah whatever. I still think he's ripping himself off." The female looked at me and snorted. "What a waste of blood…" she muttered.

I got sick of listening to their babbling after a while, and found myself asleep.

And then Adrian showed up.

"I knew it." He's voice was riddled with accusation.

"Knew what?"

He glared at me. "When they let us go, straight away all of us knew that you did it. Gave yourself up so we could all go free. You're and idiot."

Oh. "What else was I supposed to do? Sure I wanted to pick Dimitri, but even if I did I'd still be giving myself to them. It's better this way, bad things follow me everywhere. The academy doesn't need my bad luck."

"Damn it Rose!" he growled, fading away into black.

"Wake up." The female strigoi was shaking my shoulder roughly. "About time." She grumbled, grabbing my arm a pulling me out of the van.

"Finally! It's so good to finally meet you, Rosemarie!" a creepy strigoi guy ran up to my side, sticking his cold hand on my shoulder.

I stayed quiet and still. Ignoring all of them but listening nonetheless.

"She's been like that since she got in the van," Jess huffed, bowing her head at the creepy guy.

"Oh well. I suppose a silent pet will do just as fine as a chatter box would. Put her in the car, Felix. I wish to get her back to the mansion before sunrise." He smiled at me and walked over to the female strigoi I knew as Mistress Nicole.

"Come on," a tall male strigoi with brown hair so dark it looked black said, pulling me along side him towards a very expensive looking car.

**DIMITRI POV**

We burst through the hall doors, ready to kill every strigoi in sight. Except there were none. Nor was there any Moroi, novices or guardians.

We were too late. They had been freed because of my Roza.

I collapsed to the ground, feeling weak and ashamed. I'd been to slow. To slow to save the girl that had saved me time and time again.

And now she was gone.

No. No matter what fate she was suffering, she was not gone. Alina could bring her back from both death and strigoi-ism. If she was not enduring either of these fates, then I would find her.

I will save my Roza, as she has saved me.

**ROSE POV**

"A month has passed yet you still remain as silent as the first night we met. Why is this?" Alex asked, stroking the ringlet's flowing down my back. "Is it because you are grieving? Do you miss your friends and family?" I had no clue why he was still bothering with asking me questions. Surely he knew by now that I would never respond.

Would never see, feel, or talk again.

"It's Dimitri, isn't it?" I flinched at his name. His name…the only thing that could suck any mild reaction out of my cold, dead, broken heart. "You feel guilt for letting him die, do you not?" as I would every now and then just to shut him up, I nodded, just the twitch of my head in an up and down motion. "He would be proud of you. Even I think you did the right thing, and I'm the one who seems to have forced you to choose."

He was right. I'd kill for a stake. Anything to make him suffer the way I have for the past month. I felt like a zombie. Eating when told, sleeping when told, waking when told. And that was it. Never before would I have obeyed orders from anyone other then the guardians. Never would I have obeyed the creatures I hunted, the creatures I was destine to destroy. Yet here I was, living in a house full of them. Dressing in pretty dresses and doing as they said.

"I would say that he is not suffering, but that would be a harsh lie." _Is_ not suffering. I hated the way he spoke of Dimitri, as if he was still suffering from whatever cause of death he faced. "Sorry child." He stood up, tapping my shoulder. The shoulder tap: a silent order to stand and follow. As they had said, they trained me like a pet.

I stood, following him along the corridors to the main room. As we entered they bowed their heads in the usual manner. In the room strigoi both male and female mingled, all elegantly dressed and sipping blood out of wine glasses. It was disturbing to see, but it mattered not. I was used to it by now.

"Entertain them, mingle." Alex ordered, ushering me off towards the crowd. I did as he said and walked into the middle of them, sitting on the chair I usually did.

As usual they came to look at me. And as usual I stared straight ahead, the only movement I gave off was the occasional blink and my chest rising and falling just barely as I sucked in air. I never talked to them, but I always nodded or shook my head at their offers and questions. A few of the still-single strigoi men living here would come and kiss my forehead, sending a shudder down my spine.

I would talk no doubt if ordered. But not once had Alex ever done so. I don't know if he did it out of respect or pity, but I didn't care. I was just thankful I wouldn't have to converse with these creatures.

"Sweet Rose. Will you stay silent still, today?" Jeremy, one of the freaks that liked to kiss my forehead asked. I nodded once, allowing my head to turn towards him. "Do you not like me?" I nodded once more and he laughed. "So honest." He chuckled, sipping some more 'wine' from his glass. "Is there anyway any of us could make you talk?" I nodded again, thinking back to the Alex-ordering-me-to-talk thing.

"How does she do it?" Stephanie, a single Strigoi women murmured, staring at me with fascinated eyes. "She shows no emotions, says not a word, stays almost as still as a statue. Such discipline, it's amazing."

_Discipline!_ I wanted to scoff, but as usual could not find my voice. Discipline had nothing to do with my lack of emotion and speech. To display emotion you needed to feel emotion, and to speak you needed to have a voice. As for me, I had neither.

"She obeys…hey, that gives me an idea. Keep her here, Jeremy. I need to fetch Master Alex." She disappeared off in the direction Alex had gone. Like Jeremy needed to keep me here, where else would I go?

"_Stay_," Jeremy ordered, grinning as I straightened up and stared forward once more.

Alex and Stephanie appeared in front of me, and I nodded once in Alex's direction.

"Rose, talk." Alex's voice was firm…that was an order. Shit…so maybe he hadn't thought of it, but Stephanie clearly had.

"Yes Master." My voice surprised me. It sounded much sweeter then I remember, like the chime of a bell.

And just like that all eyes were on me. Whispers broke out; they all started questioning if it were actually me that had just spoken.

"Silence," Alex's voice was firm, yet another order. He turned back to me, confusion plastered to his face. "That's all it took?" he asked, his voice incredulous.

"Yes Master." Holy shit did it feel weird calling a strigoi Master.

"Rose, I want you to have a drink." He said, picking up a glass of blood and holding it out for me. He'd never asked me to do anything this sick before. I was a dhampire! I didn't drink blood! "That's an order."

I swallowed as the room fell silent. I dared to peek up at Alex's cam face. Yes. He really meant it. Swallowing once more, I reached out and took the glass, holding it in front of my face, glaring at it.

"_Drink._" He commanded, and the glass met my lips.

It took all of my will power to force my lips open, everything about this was so wrong. Breathing in through my mouth I could taste the blood, and I felt my throat ache. What caused that ache? I hungered not for blood, I was not a strigoi nor a Moroi. I should not hunger for blood.

Yet I did. I hungered for it so bad that tilting the glass and letting the blood flow down into my mouth and throat was easier then simply opening my lips had been. I finished the glass, and handed it back to him empty.

That taste…

"Very good, Rose. Now stand, you must mingle." Alex disappeared once more, and I stood up. What just happened to me? I just drank a glass of blood, and enjoyed it…was I getting sick? Was being a strigoi contagious?

Maybe since I was half vampire it was natural to like the taste. Maybe dhampire's enjoyed the taste, but didn't need it. Yes. That would make perfect sense.

"Hello Rosemarie." Charles, a powerful and wealthy strigoi man said, raising his glass and nodding his head.

"Hello." It felt wrong to use my voice. It made me feel…I wasn't sure anymore. But I wassure it wasn't pleasant.

I had a feeling, a feeling other then pain.

**DIMITRI POV**

"You'll tell me where this Alex is hiding or you will _die_!" I roared, smashing the pathetic strigoi I held back into the cliff face.

He smirked a little. "You'll kill me anyway. You reputation is still far behind hers, but its high enough for me to know that you'll kill me no matter what I do or don't say."

I stabbed my stake into his heart, then pulled it out and dropped his body. I thought what Rose had done was reckless, going out on her own to hunt me down.

Yet here I was, doing exactly the same thing.

It killed me to know that she was out there, alive with a beating heart. Alive with a beating heart, but without me.

It was a selfish thing to do, hunting her down like this. She could be happy where she is now, happy and safe. And I was here, hunting her down. Threatening that happiness she may have. But it seemed so unlikely for her to find happiness when she was surely surrounded by strigoi.

I gripped my stake tighter as I found the path I'd been following into Poland, waiting for the next strigoi to find me.

What if I was too late? What if she pissed one of them off with her attitude and they killed her? Or worse, what if they changed her?

I could get Alina, I suppose. But that would surely be risking her life. And that would make my deeds even more selfish.

Roza, I will find you. _I love you._

**ROSE POV**

Another month had passed, and still nearly nothing had changed. Except for now I had to talk with these creatures, and Alex made me drink one or two glasses of blood a day, along with my usual meals.

Drinking the blood wasn't really a bad thing, but it made me feel sick inside for many different reason. The main one being that I knew it was the blood of the people I was born and raised to protect.

Falling asleep, I saw someone I hadn't seen for a very long time.

"ROSE!" he screamed, wrapping his arms around me in a vice tight hug. "Have you not slept in a two months? I thought you must have died!"

Not slept in two months? What was he talking about? I slept every night, didn't I? Did I? I thought I did… "What do you mean I haven't slept for two months?"

"What happened to your voice?" he raised his eyebrows, staring at me.

"Nothing happened to my voice." I said in the same toneless voice I used with all of the strigoi.

"Rose, what did they do to you?" he's eye were sad, and his voice was full of sorrow.

"I'm nothing but a house pet now. I take orders from Master Alex, I eat, sleep, and bathe. I'm living out my life, just not the way I'd imagined."

"House pet? Taking orders from _Master_ Alex? Since when do you take orders?

"Since two months ago."

He grimaced. "You look…dead. Like, there's no life in your eyes, no life in your skin. If your eyes were read, I'd start calling you a strigoi."

"I am dead, Adrian. In all ways that count." It was true. I was dead, but my heart kept on beating.

"Why don't you break out of there? I know you could." He frowned.

Of course I could. "None of the strigoi among the world will touch anyone from Saint Vladimir's academy if I stay. They promised, and they've come through."

He shook his head. "Still looking out for us all, even know its killing you. It's killing Lissa, too."

I couldn't really feel Lissa anymore. I knew she was there…but no matter whose emotions they were, my body just seemed to be incapable of feeling emotions. "She has Christian."

"Rosemarie. It is time for you to wake up." Alex's calm voice pulled me from Adrian.

"Yes Master."


	10. Chapter 10

**FORGIVE ME!**

**I'm so deeply sorry. I had to finish off an assignment yesterday, so i didn't have time to update. I know it's unacceptable to have left you without your next chapter, and it actually hurt me to not be able to get back to Dimka and Rose.**

**anyway so yeah...chapter ten. Personally, i think it needs improvement, but i seem to be going through a writers bock and am having serious troubles working through it.**

**Also, i'm sorry for leaving you right after Rose's little get up with Adrian, it just seemed like the perfect time to cut off... -does evil genious laugh- i assure you it was...unintentional.**

**Just for the records, i based 'Alex' upon my brother. I SWEAR THEY'RE TWINS. And yes, i agree that he's a sick, twisted bastard. and No, just in case you were wondering, this is sort of a spoiler but i think you guys might dislike the story if i don't tell you, that no, Rose isn't going to spend the rest of her life in that god-for-saken strigoi infestation of a mansion. She'll...okay, can't tell you that one.  
**

**OH! and thanks heaps for the support on the test Freddy, you helped me ace it ^^**

**Answers:**

**1) No, the blood Rose drinks is _not_ strigoi blood.  
2)Alex makes her drink the blood because he's sick and twisted and enjoys torturing people for the hell of it.  
3)Rose was not under compulsion or a spell, she simply lost all hope. She shut down, decided it wasn't worth to fight. If she wasn't keeping her classmates safe by staying alive and being there, she would have curled up in a corner and died. So she did as she was told, still utterly reluctant to do anything else.  
**

**There are your answers :] Once again i'd like to apologize for the long wait, and i'm happy to inform you that i got myself grounded for skipping school, so i will be home and posting chapters this weekend.**

**Okay, i'll justshut up and let you do your reading now.**

**Enjoy! xxx 3  
**

* * *

Weeks passed before I lost track of time, and for each tick of the clock another ounce of darkness would drizzle through one of the cracks in my heart. At times I wasn't sure whose side that darkness was on, or what was causing it.

At first I assumed I was slowly being changed over. And that thought seemed to duplicate the darkness.

Then I realized I was growing angrier with each passing second. The darkness was like gun powder, and I was the time bomb. I could explode at any minute, effectively ending my life and any I managed to take with me.

But I haven't exploded yet, and I fought harder each day to calm myself. And with each day, it grew harder and harder. Today, I was trying so hard to calm myself that I was having trouble obeying orders.

"Not well today Rose?" Alex asked, stroking my hair in the usual manner.

"May I stay in my room for today?" it was worth a try…

"You may. If you give me a valid reason." Judging by his tone, he didn't expect me to come up with a 'valid reason.'

May as well stick with the truth. "I feel as if I might lose my temper. And I do not wish to upset any of your guests." God. It still felt so screwed up talking and acting so formal. 'may I', 'do not wish to', ugh!

"Ah," he sighed, standing up. "Yes, we would not want that, would we?"

"No Master, we would not." _Master_…God…

"Is there anything you would like? Something to help relieve you of your temper?"

Well, that wasn't what I expected. "A punching bag if possible. And some very loud music would be appreciated."

"As you wish," he nodded, taking my hand as if to kiss it. "They will be delivered within the hour." He kissed my hand and disappeared from the room.

As Alex had promised, a punching bag and a humungous stereo were delivered to my room, along with stacks and stacks of CD's. I stuck on the first CD I saw and picked up the punching gloves, ready to lay into the punching bag and let out my frustrated screams.

And then there was a knock on the door.

"Rosemarie, you have a visitor." Alex grabbed my arm, smirking about something.

I had a visitor? What the hell…I didn't get visitors. I didn't…okay, so I did live here. But who was there that would know how to find me, little own drop by a strigoi mansion and say hi. Whoever it was, I felt some what eager to see them.

The strigoi were all glaring at my visitor with murderous eyes, but I couldn't see them yet.

"You'll not take her from us," Stephanie was hissing towards the visitor through clenched teeth. When she saw me, she stepped aside to let me see my visitor.

I almost collapsed when I saw his gorgeous brown eyes. "D-Dimitri?" I stuttered. No…but Dimitri was dead. I let Dimitri die, he couldn't be here. "Oh bother." I get it. "I'm still seeing ghosts. But I had no clue that strigoi could view them too. Master, how does that work?"

"We do view ghosts Rosemarie. But, unluckily enough, that man is alive, and he wishes to take you from us." He's voice wasn't worried and his face remained the same. Every other strigoi in the room looked about ready to rip him to pieces.

"Roza…" his sweet, Russian accent echoed through my skull, eliminating all of that darkness building inside of me. "You're alive."

I was pretty sure my mouth was flattening my toes. "_I'm_ alive? i wasn't the one that died. _You're_ alive! but…" I turned to Alex, looking like a little girl who was just told her dog died. I was going into shock… "You lied to me." I stated the obvious, glaring at my feet.

"Yes. But you care not." He seemed pretty confident about that.

Did I care that he lied to me? Fuck yes I did. "Why didn't you tell me he was alive?" if I were talking to any other strigoi that question would have been idiotic. But this guy gave me constant updates on everyone I asked about.

"I feared that you would leave. Because you love him more then you love me." No shit…

"Why would that concern you? I wouldn't have left. I would have been happier, I would have talked to people because I wanted to, not because you told me to do so. I would have been happier." Here I was, starting to think this guy had some soft spot no other strigoi seemed to have. And then I find out the man he said was dead was alive…that was surely the worst sort of torture I could have endured.

"You would have left, Rosemarie. Do not deny this." I flinched at his tone. He was giving me orders. But was I still obliged to follow them?

"Yes, I would have tried to leave. Just like I am now…" why the hell did I just tell them I was going to try and break out of a mansion full of strigoi?

"Of course, you are free to leave. But if you do, our deal will be broken, and we will begin attacking students and guardians from your academy once more." He smirked. "Do you wish to leave, Rosemarie?"

The way he worded that question made it sound like: Do you wish to have your school annihilated? Simple answer being: No. I couldn't…it was too late to graduate or anything, so what was the point? Lissa would probably be bonding with her new guardians, and Dimitri could go get on with his life. I'm sure Alex would let him visit.

"Roza." Dimitri's voice pulled me from my reverie, reminding me of my complication. "You can't stay here. We need you." Sure…_we_ need you. Not _I_ need you. "Roza…" he stared into the depths on my eyes. "Roza _I_ need you."

Why was he doing this to me? "Dimitri. I love you, yes. But…me staying here guarantee's so many others safety. I can't just leave…it's to selfish." God damn it. I'd changed so much it wasn't funny. Doing good deeds, using proper English, being polite to strigoi, doing what I was told. The old me would've already blown this joint, thinking I could take on the world if I had to. But I knew better now. "I wish to stay." I mouthed the words, unable to find my voice.

"Pardon?" Alex's voice was full of satisfaction.

"I wish to stay." My voice was louder this time, and I sounded a hell of a lot more confident then I felt. Those four little words were daggers, being stabbed and twisted into the remnants of my fractured heart.

"Rose, no!" Dimitri roared, wrapping his arms around my shoulder. "Rose you can't stay. You don't belong here! You belong me with, Rose. Roza don't do this, please Roza." He begged.

The tears started flowing over the brims of my eyes then, but I kept my face hard. I opened my mouth to tell Dimitri that I did belong here and that I did have to stay, but Alex cut me off.

"Dimitri. I would like to post you an offer." I felt Dimitri's arms stiffen around me as his muscles tightened. "How would you like to stay here, to be with Rose. You would be treated as she is, and given as she is. You may share a room or live separately. It's up to you."

_WHAT!?_ A little squeaky schoolgirls voice buried somewhere in my head screamed. This was no life for Dimitri; he deserved better then to be a mere house pet. "But Master-"

"Silence. Let the boy answer for himself." My mouth snapped shut out of instinct. God I hated reactions like that.

"I'd be with Rose?" Dimitri's voice was calm and speculative. He wasn't actually considering this, was he?

"Yes." Alex's answer was very simple.

Dimitri looked down at me, love and devotion flaring in his eyes. _NO!_ I wanted to scream. _Run away NOW Dimitri!_ "I'll stay."

"Very well." Alex grinned in triumph, but had that wise look in his eyes that said he'd known this would happen all along. "Rose will show you to your room. Unless you would like to sleep separately?" Dimitri shook his head and intertwined our fingers.

I was going to be with Dimitri again. I swear I could feel a little pixie flapping around in my chest with a glue stick, slowly reshaping my heart. But there was a goblin in there to, which seemed to keep trying to eat the pixie.

How could I doom Dimitri to this life with me? I had to get him out…away from here. Out into the world where he belonged. But how? He wouldn't listen to me unless I went along with him. But that wasn't happening to soon.

"Damn it Dimitri." I hissed once we were in my room. "How could you do that!?"

"I can't live in a world where you don't exist. Even if you're alive, I can't be without you." He said this as if it were the most obvious and simple thing in the earth.

"You don't belong in a place like this!"

He chuckled. "What? And you do? You're saying that you belong in a house full of strigoi, but I don't?"

"I brought this upon myself. You, you've done nothing! You should be free, out in the world saving lives. Not in here taking orders from strigoi."

"Listen to yourself, will you?" he through he's hands in the air. "You've saved more lives then I have, if anyone belongs in the outside world it's _you, _Rose."

"No. I belong where you…" and he was here. This would mean I belonged here. But what I was trying to say…shit. He'd won again. "Damn it Dimitri!" I was trying to stay angry, but the excited little fix-it fairy with the glue stick had no such plans.

Judging by the look of pure lust on Dimitri's face, he had no such plans either. He realized around the same time I did, pulling me into his arms and crushing his lips to mine. It felt like I was melting, and that little hyped up pixie was on overdrive.

To my dismay, he pulled his lips back. "I belong where _you_ are, Roza. And right now, that's _here_."

His hand reached around behind my back and found the zipper for the ridiculously fluffy dress I was wearing. Once he was rid of it, he bent down to dispose of my high-heel boots. I used the opportunity to relieve him of his shirt.

He all but through me onto the bed, gripping my wrists tightly as his lips massaged mine. During this, I was skillfully removing his sweatpants with my feet. The night went on, and not once were we disturbed by Alex. I suspected that he was using whatever courtesy he had and was allowing me and Dimitri time too…catch up with each other.

"Rose, can I ask you a question?" hey, I heard that line before.

"Didn't really give me much of a choice there, did ya sunshine?" wow, I'd been waiting to use that line for only god knows how long.

He chuckled after a moment of speculation, obviously trying to work out what I'd meant. Silly Dimitri…

"What's it like being a pet?

***

After I gave Dimitri the rundown on how to behave, talk, walk, obey, and let them dress him, we actually managed to get some sleep. He didn't like the part where I told him he was to refer to Alex as 'Master'. And he didn't like hearing that he had to be dressed fancy every day, little own had to be dressed by strigoi.

"Dimitri, Rose. It's time for you both to wake up." Alex came into the room, looking quite satisfied with himself. "I'm going to have to ask you both to be a little quieter during the nights, or else we'll have to relocate you both to higher, my soundproof rooms."

"Yes Master." I yawned, pulling myself out of bed only to throw myself back down. Shit, forgot I was naked. "Sorry Master…" I could feel myself blushing. I peeked down at Dimitri's immobile form and jabbed him in the kidney with a finger. "Get up, you've got to be showered and dressed."

Two female strigoi entered the room, carry with them a towel and a black suit. Of course Alex would have females dress him…probably just to piss me off. Stephanie and Adina stepped through the door with today's dress and accessories then, pushing past the other two females.

"Don't I get to shower myself?" he mumbled, picking up the pair of boxer's he'd been wearing last night.

"Speak formally and be polite, Dimitri." I commanded, wrapping myself in a sheet and heading out towards the shower. "You get to shower yourself; they're just there to help."

"right." He snorted, jumping out of bed.

"I trust Rosemarie has informed you on the basic expectations of staying in our humble home?" Alex's voice became a background sound as my usual conversation with Stephanie and Adina started up. Like it or not, these two weren't too bad. I actually didn't mind talking to them.

"Well, you're looking happiner," Adina giggled.

"Who's that Dimitri guy?" Stephanie asked.

"Of course I'm happier. And Dimitri, Dimitri is guardian Belikov." They'd once questioned me about my quest to kill one strigoi in particular, and I'd given them the entire story in full detail. I'd called him Dimitri Guardian Belikov, though.

"No way!" Adina scoffed.

"Seriously? That guy you went looking for?" Stephanie's face was eager with the sound of new gossip.

"Yeah." It was a simple answer, and it pleased neither of them.

"You aren't going to tell us about him, are you?" Adina's face fell, mimicking Stephanie's.

"Nope," I, on the other hand was quite cheerful. Cheerful for the first time in…how long had it been now?

"Get yourself clean," Adina mumbled, closing the bathroom door behind her.

I sighed, dropping the sheet and stepping into the shower. "How long does Alex plan on keeping me here? And why does he make me where these idiotic dresses?"

"Rose…" Stephanie's voice was filled with pity. "he's going to keep you the way you are until you're twenty-five. Then he'll awaken you…"

"And what's wrong with the dresses? I think they're gorgeous!" Adina scoffed.

Twenty-five… "I…but…what?" I nearly slid over in the shower. "I don't wanna be a strigoi!" I flung the shower door open, glaring them both down. "When did anyone plan on telling me this!?" fuck!

"Well, we didn't…" both Stephanie and Adina muttered.

"Rose, watch your temper…" Stephanie said in a soothing voice.

"you think that's a _temper_? You ain't seen nothing yet!" I screamed, ripping out of the shower. I yanked my towel off of Adina's arms and stormed off for the door. Their cool arms wrapped around me, restraining me. "Let go of me!" I roared, jamming my elbow into Stephanie's nose. She flinched a little, but didn't release me.

"Calm down Rose!" Adina hissed, yanking me backwards a little.

A few seconds later Dimitri busted through the door, stake in hand and ready for a fight. How'd he sneak a stake in here… "Get off her!" he roared, jumping forward a little.

"No, Dimitri." I through myself in front of him, very nearly throwing myself into his stake. "It was my fault." They did their job, they kept me safe. God knows what would have happened if I went storming off down to the guest room in a towel. I groaned. "You didn't kill anyone, did you?"

He straightened up as a sheepish look found his face. "I thought they were hurting you…" he mumbled, pulling a towel off the floor.

If Adina and Stephanie weren't still holding me down I would have thrown myself at Dimitri. He'd just busted out of the shower, which meant he was wet _and_ naked. Ouch...the heat burning off him could have set the mansion on fie. Dang…

Stephanie and Adina were also staring wide eyed at Dimitri junior, so I covered there eyes up. "Eyes off, his mine." I chuckled as they snapped out of their lust powered trance. Great, now I'd have competition…sigh…

"Only killed one of them, the other one took of for help. Speaking of which…" five strigoi men, three of which I knew as Jeremy, Carl, and Julian. The other two I didn't know.

Throwing myself in front of Dimitri in a protective position I accidently dropped my towel. Shit…I froze up, staring down at the crumpled pile of white fabric around my feet before peeking up at the strigoi men. Well…at least they were distracted.

Dimitri, on the other hand, was very pissed off with the fact that five strigoi men were drooling over me.

"Now boys…" I muttered, trying to force up some confidence. "No need for violence. What Dimitri did was an accident…" I cleared my throat, trying to draw attention to my face instead of my boobs. "He thought I was in danger."

Jeremy grinned, snapping out of his haze and refocusing on my face. "You're in danger now," he traced over my body with his eyes in a very obvious checking-me-out way. "What a beautiful work of art…" he murmured, peeking back up at my face.

"You can quit having eye sex with me now." I growled, snatching up my towel.

He the others blinked, regaining their focus as well. "Well," one of the two strigoi men I didn't know straightened up. "Master Alex simply ordered us to restrain him. Seems he's calm already, so we'll leave you to your…business." He shook his head and waved his hand in a gesturing motion, telling the other to follow.

They went, but Jeremy did not. He chuckled. "I knew you weren't all polite and formal. You're one of those tough chicks that scars the shit out of everyone, aren't you? With one of those badass attitudes. I heard the stories; we all read a detailed description of you." He sighed. "We were all very disappointed when you lacked that so called sassy attitude."

I straightened up, slipping back into my formal mode. "I haven't the slightest idea of what you are referring too." Dimitri snaked his arms around me from behind and I felt him press his lips to my hair. "Now please leave, I need to finish washing my hair."

"Why don't I help you?" he suggested, stepping forward a bit.

"That position's already filled, comrade." Dimitri's voice was taunting. And did he seriously just say _comrade_? "Your services are no longer required," of course Dimitri wasn't going to have any trouble with the whole formal speaking thing.

Jeremy's eyes narrowed into slits, making him look sort of Asian. But, he did leave.

"Thanks," I said, planting a kiss on Dimitri's cheek. "But I really do have to finish my hair, it needs to be styled."

"I'm here to help," he said. I felt his head turn in the direction of Stephanie and Adina. "You ladies don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all." They replied instantly.

Dimitri was a very cruel man.

What sort of boyfriend gets in a shower with you flaunting himself, saying that he's 'here to help,' and then sticks to the literal meaning. All he did was wash my hair out. Oh how exciting. Ugh, I wanted to scream at him so bad.

But, if he was gonna play hard to get, I could play harder.

The day passed and Dimitri stayed polite and formal. Everyone enjoyed talking to him, but they were edgy around him, like they knew not to trust him. He'd gone all white and sick looking when Alex gave me my wine glass of blood. I drank it, as usual. Alex didn't make Dimitri drink any though, for which I was grateful. During the night he was all hyped up and ready to go at it, which made it hard to do what I did.

"Master Alex," I said, strolling over to him with a giddy feeling.

"Yes, Rosemarie?" god I hated the way he used my full name.

"I'd like Dimitri to sleep elsewhere to night." I smirked, anticipating his reaction to this.

"As you wish,"

Let's see how he likes _that_.

**ADRIAN POV**

I was pleased with myself, and absolutely pissed off with Belikov. Why the fuck did he get her? He didn't deserve her. He was to strict to even really allow himself to _be_ with her.

But he was who she wanted, so he was who she would get.

Why oh whhhyyyyy did I have to…what the hell was that smell? I felt my body collapse ti the ground as I fell into some sort of a coma.

***

Where the fuck am i?

Standing up I stretched my under-used muscles and they groaned in protest like every other day, but it was a lot worse this time.

Looking around I saw many familiar faces. All from the academy. And they were all tear streaked, shocked, tired or in the case of guardians, seriously pissed off.

So again, where the fuck am i?

"Hey kid," I grabbed a Moroi guys arm and he screamed like a little bitch. "Wow, hey chill out. Just wanted to ask what's going on." talk about paranoid.

He didn't answer my question, he just pointed at the wall. Wow…what were kids injecting into their veins these days? Speaking of which, I was in need of some alcohol.

Following the direction of the boys shaking hand, my eyes looked in on a chalky pale female with orange hair and red eyes.

Strigoi.

By the looks of it, _lots_ of strigoi. The hall looking building that we were all cramped up into was lined with them.

What the fuck was going on?

***

After I worked out what was going on, I just sat and waited with everyone else.

The strigoi could apparently see ghosts. And apparently the ghosts wanted to help the strigoi. the ghosts managed to possess some of the guardians, and by doing so they were able to drug up everyone in the school. Everyone indoors, like me, was out instantly because of the gas through the air vents. Those outdoors had to be injected. Apparently not many people were injected.

Nobody knew anything else, just that not everyone was here. There were others being held in other places, and a few people were left at the academy for toying with.

Rose was one of them.

And Belikov…jealousy's a real pain in the ass.

"Shut up and listen!" the strigoi lining the walls screamed, effectively ending all conversations and sorry sobs. The hall fell ultimately silent. Cool…

"Your lives are all in the hands of one girl. One little dhampire. We've given her two choices, she can either save you sorry saps, or she can save her precious lover boy." A heaps buff male strigoi guy said. He smirked. "Anyone wanna' guess who?"

It was so obvious. The was a collective sigh, followed up by a united call out of "Rose Hathaway."

"Well, that was quick. She cause trouble often?" his question was ignored, and new conversations started. All of which were based upon everyone's belief that Rose would do the selfish thing and save her 'precious lover boy'. Fucking Belikov…

***

A few days passed and the Moroi started growing weak from lack of blood. Then the strigoi opened the doors to the dark night, allowing us all to simply leave.

Or so it would seem.

I grabbed a passing guardian by the arm. "She saved us, didn't she?" damn it Rose. What've you gotten yourself into this time?

The guardian shrugged and hurried along on her way. I didn't approve of speaking to strigoi, but I had to know if it was Rose. I mean sure I already knew…but I wanted to know what she'd done to have us set free.

"Hey strigoi chick," a called to a brunette that was wearing a very frustrated look on her face. "What's gonna happen to that Rose chick now? What'd she do?"

She grinned, pleased about something. "Master Alex is having some fun with her. That girl will never see the sun shining again." She began laughing, sounding very much like one of them witches off TV.

I felt tears swell up on the brims of my eyes. Leave her with Belikov and she goes and hands herself into the strigoi.

_Damn it Rose!_

***

Two months passed and nothing happened. I sat on my bed, alcohol and cigarette free, just waiting for her to fall asleep. It was stupid, I know, but I needed that hope. Something inside of me was telling me that she was still alive, and it was loud andclear.

But how could anyone stay awake for two months? It wasn't possible. She'd have to be…No. no I wouldn't think anything like that. There was no way someone as strong as Rose could be dead.

There was no way.

I left the school once Lissa graduated, moving with her to the royal court. She'd married Christian Ozera, big surprise there, and was attending some collage nearby. My aunt sure as hell didn't like it very much, but she was just glad that I wasn't flirting with Rose anymore.

She was, however, disappointed that Rose had gone and 'died', like that. She'd been looking forward to having Rose at the royal court. She wouldn't admit it to anybody, but she liked Rose just like everyone else did.

Mia was living in the room next to me. She'd taken Rose's absence pretty hard. She'd gotten herself all worked up about training with her. About learning how to fight physically to defend herself. Rose had promised her lessons, and now Rose was gone.

I hated to admit it, but the only one who'd taken the hit of her leaving harder then me was Belikov. He'd set out after her, but lost track of her just as fast. They'd been too quick for him to get to her, and now he didn't even know where to start looking.

But look he did, day and night. He'd call Lissa once a week to make sure she hadn't heard anything from Rose, and he'd call me for the same reason, knowing that I could see her in her dreams.

I could see her in her dreams, but that was absolutely useless when she wasn't sleeping.

There was a knock on the door. "Adrian, can I come in?" Mia's voice rattled through the room as she opened the door a little to stick her head in.

"Okay." I said, still concentrating on Rose's dreams. Still waiting for her to fall asleep.

"Still nothing?" she sighed, sitting cross-legged on the end of my bed.

"Nothing." My answer was again, flat and short.

"Adrian…I know you think she's still alive…"

"I don't _think_ she's still alive. I _know_ she's still alive." I corrected her, frowning.

"Yeah, that. So she's still alive but she hasn't slept in two months…" her voice was implying that I was some sort of insane.

"What do you want, Mia?" my tone was harsh as I glared at her. She was so innocent, so sad and depressed. And so desperate…she wanted Rose to be alive nearly as much as I did.

"Come out of your room for once, please!"

"Did already today. I saw the feeders."

She made a weird annoyed sound. "For something other then life supplies. Come down to the spa with me,"

I sighed. Every day she'd try and drag me out of my room. And every day I said no. I was proud of her for trying, but it really was getting annoying. Peering up at her hopeful eyes I caved. "Okay, fine. But you've got to leave me in piece-"

There was a tug on my mind, and I found myself staring at Rose. She was asleep!

"ROSE!" I screamed, wrapping my arms around her in a vice tight hug. "Have you not slept in a two months? I thought you must have died!" well, I didn't but everyone else did…

She looked confused. "What do you mean I haven't slept for two months?"

There was something weird about her voice. She sounded…well, she didn't sound like Rose. "What happened to your voice?" I asked, raising both my eyebrows.

"Nothing happened to my voice." she said in a toneless voice. She looked…so dead. So sad…

"Rose, what did they do to you?" my eyes were sad, and my voice was packed up with sorrow.

"I'm nothing but a house pet now. I take orders from Master Alex, I eat, sleep, and bathe. I'm living out my life, just not the way I'd imagined." Her voice mimicked the last line she said, toneless and dead.

"House pet? Taking orders from _Master_ Alex? Since when do you take orders?" Rose calling someone Master was hilarious. Usually I'd tease her or something, but not now. I was too happy to see her. Even if she looked so dead…

"Since two months ago."

I grimaced, deciding to say something about her appearance. "You look…dead. Like, there's no life in your eyes, no life in your skin. If your eyes were red, I'd start calling you a strigoi." poor Rose…what had they done to her?

"I am dead, Adrian. In all ways that count." Her voice changed slightly then, taking up a long lost sorrow.

"Why don't you break out of there? I know you could." I frowned. She'd done it before. I guess she had Nikki help her that time though…

She looked sort of cocky, displaying the tiniest bit of Rose. "None of the strigoi among the world will touch anyone from Saint Vladimir's academy if I stay. They promised, and they've come through."

I shook my head in frustration. "Still looking out for us all, even know its killing you. It's killing Lissa, too." I tried hitting the Lissa line. That might work…

Shestayed silent, appearing to be deep in thought. Either that or she was debating with herself. I rather liked he ideaof her debating with herself. That left the option of her breaking out. "She has Christian." Damn it. Of course it wouldn't be that simple.

"Rosemarie. It is time for you to wake up." A creepy calm voice echoed through the meadow, and then Rose faded away and I snapped back into reality with Mia shaking my shoulders.

"Adrian! Oh you're okay," she said, releasing my shoulder and bending her head down.

"She's alive!" I cheered, hoping of the bed to skip around the room.

"You found her?" she asked, perking up.

Shit. I grimaced. Why the hell didn't I ask where she was? "Well...I don't know where she is. But she's alive. she said she was a house pet…and she looked…so dead. Like she wasn't really there." Like a strigoi, just without the eyes and fangs.

"She's not..strigoi…is she?"

"No. she just looks like she'll never be happy again. So fragile…" Rose looking fragile wasn't something I'd ever thought to be possible.

**DIMITRI POV**

She walked through the door, grinning wickedly. She'd done something bad…something that was either going to piss me off or drive me on.

"Dimitri, I'd like you to leave my room now." She said simply, pulling that grin off her face and transforming her giddy features to an impassive stance.

"Err, what?" I frowned, sitting up in the bed. "Why?"

"This is my room, and I wish to sleep alone. Stephanie will escort you to your new room." She nodded her head towards the female strigoi standing at the door with a goofy grin on her face.

What the hell? Of I get it. She's trying to be funny.

"Come on Rose, drop it, or I actually will leave." I threatened, pulling the covers off the other side of the bed for her.

She stayed impassive as she turned and headed towards the female strigoi. "If he is not going to leave, I'd like to stay in his new room instead." The female nodded and took Rose's hand, leading her out of the room.

What…

Oh…shit. She was getting revenge for the shower. For fuck sakes…I stuck my head in the pillow and tried to get to sleep. Two could play at that game.

Drifting off into a sleep, someone I didn't expect to see was waiting to greet me.

"Finally," Adrian muttered, sitting down on a chair.

"What do you want?"I growled, taking a seat next to him. It was bad enough having him stalk Rose in her dreams; I didn't need him in mine, too.

"Rose is alive." he aid, stating the obvious.

"I know."

"I spoke with her,"

"I slept with her," it wasn't my usual method, but it was fun nonetheless.

"She…wait, what?" he stuttered, taking in that last comment.

"I'm with her at the moment. Well…not right now, but I'm with her."

"You found her?" his eyes widened in disbelief. "How?"

Could I tell him where we were? Should i? yeah… I guess I should. But no, I wouldn't. he'd send a small army in after Rose. "I really don't know," I frowned, trying to make myself look convincing. "I just woke up in a room and she was there." Okay…so I got good at the lying thing. I learnt from Rose, of course.

Adrian gasped and disappeared. The gasp was a gasp of…pain? Shock? What the hell…


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry about the hold up, i would have posted it friday but i only just got my electricity back. Stupid storms...**

**Anyway so yeah, here be chapter 11. Yeah...it is about 1k words less then i'd originally intended, but i thought that was the right place to hit the stopped.**

**Answers:  
****1)Other the the shower, there was no other motivation to Rose's not-sleeping-with-Dimitri brat attack.  
2)I couldn't leave them in that god-for-saken mansion, jeez. I hate it as much as Dimka does.  
3)I can't tell you if Lissa and Christian are gonna have kids yet, you'll have to wait and find out :P**

**okay, that's that. **

**Enjoy! xxx :]**

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**ADRIAN POV**

Sitting on my bed with Mia at my feet I waited. I had to tell Belikov she was alive. No matter how bad I wanted him to go crawl up in a corner and die, I had to tell him. I felt the tug in the back of my mind as we were both sucked into my little two-chairs-on-patio setting.

"Finally," I muttered, sitting down on a chair.

"What do you want?"Belikov growled, taking a seat next to me. He had a very annoyed display of facial features.

"Rose is alive." I said, cutting straight to the point.

"I know." He said curtly. Guess he had that seem feeling I used to have.

But now I had something more certain then a 'gut feeling'. "I spoke with her,"

"I slept with her," he said, sounding as serious as he would if he were still a teacher talking to a student.

"She…wait, what?" he…_slept_ with her? But…what?

"I'm with her at the moment. Well…not right now, but I'm with her." He sounded both cheerful and irate.

"You found her?" my eyes widened in disbelief. _I_ wanted to be the person to find her. "How?"

He contemplated something for a minute before saying. "I really don't know," _liar._ He frowned, trying to make himself look convincing. "I just woke up in a room and she was there." God this man was so obviously lying.

I went to open my mouth and begin ranting on about how he needed to tell us everything he knew, but when I opened my mouth a startled gasp flew out and I was ripped back into reality.

"Mia! What the…who are you?" two tall men were standing at the end of my bed. _Men_ certainly wasn't the word to describe then. "Strigoi…" I breathed as one of them flew at me.

"Which academy did you graduate from?" he hissed into my ear.

Rose said something about them leaving Saint Vlad's alone.. "Saint Vladimir's. so back the fuck off, so is she."

He released me and Mia, cussing silently under his breath. "Everyone's from fucking Saint Vlad's. I recon we should kill the dhampire and get on the way we used to." They took off out the door.

"Why'd they leave?" Mia was breathing hard with a dazed look on her face.

"Rose." Was all I said. She'd technically just saved both mine and Mia's lives.

"But Rose…but she didn't do any…we've got to get her out, Adrian. I don't give a fuck if you don't come with me, I'm going to get her out." She flung herself up, looking very tough.

"Oh, is that so? May I ask how exactly you plan on breaking into a mansion full of strigoi all by yourself? Not to mention that you don't even know where that mansion is." I admired her enthusiasm, but acting on impulse wasn't the right thing to do.

She frowned, slumping back down on the bed. "We need a game plan. You're going to find out where she is, Adrian. And I'll organize the search party. Shouldn't be hard, I don't know anyone that wouldn't want to help Rose. The only reason she needs help is because she saved us."

I sighed loudly. "Mia, she…she doesn't _want_ to be helped." I was rather hoping I wouldn't be telling anyone that, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"She what? Bull-fucking-shit why the hell would Rose, _Rose_ of _ALL_ people want to not be saved from a mansion of strigoi?"

"She's got Dimitri. They're treating her fine. And her being there keeps uncountable amounts of Moroi safe from harm." I wasn't planning on telling anyone that Dimitri was with her either.

"Bull…" she trailed off, letting all of the information sink in. "Say what? Dimitri found her?" her eyes widened. "I don't believe it!" she looked a little jealous.

"Calm down Mia. I'm with you on that one, trust me." I muttered.

"_Finally," I muttered, sitting down on a chair._

"_What do you want?"Belikov growled, taking a seat next to me. He had a very annoyed display of facial features._

"_Rose is alive." I said, cutting straight to the point._

"_I know." He said curtly. Guess he had that seem feeling I used to have._

_But now I had something more certain then a 'gut feeling'. "I spoke with her," _

"_I slept with her," he said, sounding as serious as he would if he were still a teacher talking to a student. _

"_She…wait, what?" he…slept with her? But…what?_

"_I'm with her at the moment. Well…not right now, but I'm with her." He sounded both cheerful and irate. _

"_You found her?" my eyes widened in disbelief. I wanted to be the person to find her. "How?"_

Our last conversation decided to play itself through my head again. _"I spoke with her," "I slept with her,"_ rub it in why don't he. Geez.

**ROSE POV**

I woke up with a huge grin on my face just as Alex was walking in the doro to tell me it was tiem to get up

"Good morning Master Alex," I chirped cheerfully, sitting up under the covers. I looked onto the figure heading for me, and quickly realized it wasn't Alex. "Oh, what is it you need, Jeremy?"

He chuckled lightly, sitting down on the bed next to me. "You even look glamorous in the mornings. Why do you look so cheerful?"

I quickly pushed all of the teasing I'd packed ready for Dimitri down to my toes, switching back into pet mode. "I look glamorous because that is the way the Master wishes me. And I haven't a blue of what you mean about me looking any more cheerful then any other morning. If you do not require anything, then I'm must ask you to leave. I must get ready for the day." I felt like such a tool talking like that.

He grinned widely, sliding a little closer to me, causing me to shudder and slide a little further away. "Today is your lucky day. Everyone's gone out except for me, you, Stephanie, and Alfonse."

"What about Dimitri?" my voice broke on his name.

Jeremy frowned. "Yeah his here somewhere to." He muttered. Guess he didn't like Dimitri very much. "Anyway. Master Alex told me that I must let you dress yourself in what you want today. Then Stephanie, me, and you are going to go shopping."

I grimaced. Shopping sounded awesome, and dressing in what I _wanted_ to sounded even better. Shopping with strigoi on the other hand…well, that was another story. "What about Dimitri?"

"He can't be trusted."

"I'm not going without him." I crossed my arms over my chest.

He glared me down, contemplating something. Something that seemed to be working out very well for him. causing me to jump to the conclusion that he was going to try and drag me out.

"I'll kick and scream." He didn't seem worried about that. "I'll leave the mansion," that didn't seem to worry him much either. "I'll tell Master Alex you harassed me." That had a little more affect, but he didn't seem too worried. "I'll tell him you raped me." That struck a nerve. Alex had forbidden any sexual contact between the strigoi and myself unless I'd approved.

"Fine. You can bring him." he muttered, standing up and walking over to the cupboard. "These are the clothes you can select from for today. Dress when you're ready." He stomped his way out of the room, causing me the giggle a little. I new that last one would work.

I walked up to the cupboard he'd opened and had a look inside. "YES!" I squealed, ripping about fifteen different shirts, shorts, jeans, and dresses out of the cupboard and hurling them onto the bed. No more glamorous princess dresses!

I heard soft but fast moving footsteps rushing down the hallway and turned to face the door. A few seconds later Dimitri literally knocked the door down, stake in hand and ready to fight. Oh…okay, so I guess I shouldn't start screaming over clothes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, still not relaxing his stance as he's eyes flicked furiously around the surroundings. "I heard you screaming,"

"Sorry," I murmured, turning back to the clothes sprawled all over the bed. "Jeremy showed me I had new clothes. New clothes that aren't embarrassing to wear! Oh, and we're going shopping. Go get dressed in something."

"We're leaving the mansion?" he was excited about this, but I hadn't thought of it that way.

"Err, yeah I guess. Alfonse and Jeremy are coming too, though." His eyes brightened and he sprinted back down the hallway. He was almost as excited as I was…

I flitted back over to the closet, pulling out all of the remaining clothes and tossing them onto the bed. There was no way in hell that I was going to be dressing plain today. Technically, it would be night, which meant that I could dress up like whatever I wanted and no-one would really give adman.

Wicked.

Once I was finished searching through the clothes, I decided I was going to dress stereotypical. The look I was going for was sort of punk slash slut. Not so much the slut, maybe bitch was a better word…

Anyway, I picked out a little black mini skirt that looked revealing, but I bent over in the mirror a few times to make sure I wasn't giving anything out to the public eye. The mini skirt had a few pink skulls on the left side, and too the right a few little metal chains hung down halfway to the middle of the skirt. I selected a tiny cropped black singlet that revealed mostly all of my stomach, and then put a blood red singlet over the top of it, which fell down to cover everything above my belly button. Then I put some boots on that looked a lot like the ones with the silver daggers in them.

I left my hair to wave along my back, and decided to use some of the fancy shirt-cross necklaces that I'd wear every other day. With makeup I settled for a bit of eyeliner, some mascara and blood red lip stick.

Sure, it wasn't my usual style, but it looked pretty mad.

"Sweet," I muttered, spinning around in the mirror again. I saw the door open in the reflection as Dimitri stepped through, dressed in his usual training gear sort of things. Loose gray sweatpants and a nicely fitted black T-shirt. What was new, though, was that he also had a little black rope tied around his neck, on the end of it was a cross like mine, and a rose.

"Wow," he muttered, walking up behind me. "This doesn't look like the usual you. The skirt nad boots do, but I thought you'd go for something a little smaller for the top…" he trailed off as I lifted the red top up, revealing the little black singlet thing. "I see,"

His arms snaked around my waist and I leaned my head back into his shoulder. "I love you," I sighed, kissing his neck a little. God I wish I didn't act all pissed off and bratty last night, it was such a stupid retaliation. "Sorry about last night."

He grinned briefly before locking lips with me. He's lips started off eager, but slowed into a more…I dunno, romantic I guess. We stayed standing like that, just kissing for a little while before he lifted me up and walked us over to the bed. I was going to protest and say now wasn't the time, but Jeremy walked in.

"You two ready?" he's tone was flat and emotionless, and he didn't look at me once. He just stood there, glaring at Dimitri with a murderous look in his eye…

Jealousy. I'd seem that look in Adrian's eyes a thousand times, every time he saw Dimitri. Jeremy…_liked_ me. Oh that was so wrong…a strigoi, into a dhampire. I shuddered. I had a sickly feeling that put the nauseous feeling I constantly had living here, surrounded by strigoi to utter shame.

"Yeah, let's go." I peeked up at Dimitri and laughed. "Soon, actually. I've got to fix my lipstick, and Dimitri needs to wash his face and neck." It looked like someone had bitten Dimitri on the neck, and it looked like he'd bitten someone and had a bunch of blood smudged around his mouth.

Once we were all cleaned up, and I managed to fend Dimitri off, we went downstairs to meet the other two. Alfonse, I guessed, was a very short man with red hair. And he looked very annoyed…and Jeremy looked plain old pissed off.

"Okay, we can go now." I chimed, trying to lighten the mood. It seemed so stupid to be trying to cheer a strigoi up. Jeremy wasn't really all that bad…he was just creepy and undead. At least now I knew why he was always the first one to pick up a conversation with me, and why he was always the one handing me my wine glasses of blood.

Without a sound, they stood up and walked towards the door. The night outside was brilliant. The moon was full and the stars were bright. And, I got to see the outside of the house for the first time.

It was surrounded by trees, obviously. It was bigger then it looked from the inside, and it was all a creamy white colour, just like the inside of the house. How boring… boring it may have been, it was still gorgeous.

What was even more gorgeous was the slick black stretch limo parked out the front. Music was blaring from the inside, and they weren't Dimitri's crappy old songs. The song coming from the car was 1,2 step by Ciara, and hearing it made me wanna start dancing for no good reason.

"Holy shit," I muttered, stumbling over to the limo in a hypnotized, or drunk, sort of manner. "You guys kick ass!" I nearly fell over as those words left my lips. I just complimented a strigoi…complimented a strigoi without any sort of sarcasm…that was new for even me.

Dimitri realized that too, and burst out laughing. "Strigoi hugger," he chuckled as I glared. Strigoi hugger…what the fuck? Ohh, like a tree hugger.

Shit. What if he was right? What if I started liking strigoi, started liking and protecting them…no. that wasn't possible. No way would I ever try and protect any strigoi, no matter how desperate and in need I was.

Hopping into the limo, Jeremy and Dimitri soon followed. It was like heaven…luxury leather seats, sick as sound system, huge plasma TV with a Nintendo WII connected to it, and my personal favorite part of the vehicle, the mini bar. Better yet, the Smirnoff inside the mini bar.

On my third can, Jeremy spoke up. "No more until we're on our way back, you can't be totally wasted until we've finished shopping, or you'll have no fun." He's voice was lighter then before, no doubt lighter with amusement. Probably anticipating what I'd be like when I couldn't see right and couldn't walk straight.

"Fine." I skulled the rest of the can and chucked it in the trash before strutting back over to Dimitri and dropping myself in his lap. "Hey sexy," I snuggled into his chest. Sure as hell wasn't drunk, but I wasn't exactly…sober, either.

Dimitri laughed silently, sending vibrations throughout my entire body. "Didn't stop her soon enough." He kissed my hair softly before resting his cheek in the same spot his lips had touched. Sitting there in that position with him felt so amazingly perfect.

I felt safe. Like everything was going to stay the same, but be perfect. I was being optimistic, I guess. Living with the strigoi wasn't that bad now Dimitri was here…it was actually kind of nice. I didn't have to take care of anyone, I didn't have to study. I didn't have to train, but I still did anyway. But the best part was that me and Dimitri didn't have to hide our feelings for each other.

We could be together without judgment.

"I love you, _Dimka_." I sighed, giggling a little at his nickname. Dimka sounded so strange to me, but it was cute. Which was why it was so strange to me. Calling someone as deadly as Dimitri a cute little name like 'Dimka' just didn't seem right.

He kissed my hair again, whispering "I love you too, Roza."

When we got there I was all hyped up about the shopping, because they'd given both me and Dimitri credit cards with our names on them. We could buy whatever to hell we wanted!

"We have to go meet up with a friend, stay around these parts." Alfonse said, taking Jeremy and walking down the road.

"Cool," I chirped. "I want feel sick while we're shopping now." The further they walked to less nauseous I felt. Wow, that was new.

"Still feeling strigoi in your stomach, eh?" he asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards an electronic store.

"Yep. Why are we going in here?" I was thinking more along the lines of clothes and makeup shopping…

"I want to get a computer, so I can talk to others." That wasn't a bad idea. I could email Lissa! I'd have my best friend back…in a way, I guess.

"Smart one," I turned around and froze. "Oh hell yeah…" apparently, while we were living in that mansion with no contact to the outer world, they'd updated in _everything._

Bouncing off towards the IPod and music section like a kid in a candy shop where everything was free, Dimitri headed for the computers.

It was greedy, sure, but since I couldn't pick between black and red, I took both. After I got the IPods, I went and got a large IPod dock and portable speakers. I also bought spare headphones, just incase I broke them, which seemed likely.

Heading away from the music I made my way towards the cell phone section. There, I bought a purple hip-top twist and an I Phone.

After that, I joined Dimitri, who was still in the computer section. I was quicker then him, immediately picking out a black and red laptop that had an inbuilt webcam and microphone.

Once Dimitri finally purchased himself a laptop similar to mine but a less colorful, silver version, I dragged him next door to a computer game and CD store. I took one of every CD that was a band a recognized, and headed over for the computer games.

There, I brought about thirty different games just for the hell of it.

When I walked to the front desk, joining Dimitri, I saw the panic flaring up in his eyes.

Something happened.

"What is it? More strigoi?" I hissed under my breathe, just loud enough for him to hear.

He shook his head slightly, pulling out his tiny little pony-tail so his hair covered to back of his neck. And his molinja marks. "Guardians,"

It took me several moments to work out what the big deal was, but when I did I was Justas panicky as him.

They'd probably kill Alfonse and Jeremy, we'd get blamed, or accused of running away, and Saint Vlad's would be attacked again.

"Shit." I muttered, intertwining our fingers. "We have to go…err, right after I get these…" it was stupid, but I didn't want to leave without them.

"Hey," a sweet female voice chimed. Sure didn't sound like a guardian. "You're…" I turned around and found myself facing at a very stunned Moroi girl. She was no older then eight, and had platinum blonde hair with black streaks running through it. "Rose Hathaway. Aren't you?" she finished her sentence.

Stupid fucking fame. "Nope, wrong person kiddo," I lied, trying to cover up.

She reached into her bag, pulling out a folded photo. She unfolded it and walked over to me, the two guardians trailing after her. She held up the picture to me, and it was like looking in a mirror. "Yes, you are." She grinned at me.

At the bottom of the photo my name was printed. "Okay, so maybe I am. What's it matter?" I sighed, giving up on it. Why'd I have to go and get famous…

"You saved us all, and we thought you were dead. Why are you hiding? Or are you still with the strigoi? Did you like, break out just now?" wow that girl could talk.

"I'm not hiding, yes I am still there and no I'm not breaking out I'm shopping." I don't know why I answered the question, but I did.

"You're shopping? So they let you leave the house? Why don't you run away? Do you like living with them?" questions…

"Okay, that's to many questions." I turned around, grabbing the games and stuff I'd just bought and heading for the door.

"Wait!" she called, running over too the retreating me and Dimitri with her guardian pals following her. "were those strigoi down that alley way with you?"

Shit. "Two males?" please, please no…

She pursed her lips and nodded. "They attacked, and now they're dead. Sorry about that…"

"For fuck sakes, now we're all fucked!" I screeched, trying to get at her. Dimitri wrapped his arms around me though, restricting me. And her guardians jumped in front of her, pushing her back. What the fuck was I doing? Trying to attack a Moroi, had I lost my mind? "Oh shit…" I muttered, relaxing. "I'm so sorry. I really don't know what came over me."

Dimitri released me, holding onto only my hand. The girl's guardians didn't relax as much, though.

"What…Rose, what do we do now?" Dimitri muttered.

"Do you know how to get back to the mansion? Cause I sure as hell don't…" why didn't I pay attention to where we were going?

"No…" he sighed, but I could tell he was thinking.

A course of action based on 'will's' and 'must's' formed in my head. "We have to get a _lot_ of guardians, make an army, and then we have to attack them. We have to kill them all before they attack the academy. We'll find it now that we know where we are and what it looks like. And then we'll be free. We can go get charges, hopefully, or we could just go work at the royal court. No more strigoi…"

Dimitri nodded. "Agreed." He turned towards the eavesdropping guardians and asked "What's the name of this place?"

"This is Lewistown, Montana. And, we're going to help you." The blonde guy said, easing out of his protective stance at last.

"Okay. We need the help and thank-you." I turned to Dimitri. "All this time, there's been forty or so strigoi living in Montana. No wonder they managed to attack us so frequently." It was idiotic. Turning back to the Moroi girl and her guardians, I asked "What element are you?" was worth a try asking.

"Fire, why?" she replied.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one. _Why_?"

Holy shit. she didn't look a thing like twenty-one. "Are you brave enough to help kill off the strigoi?"

She blinked a few times, surprised. "Err, how?"

"You use fire, and strigoi are flammable. You'd be deadly."

She stood still, staring at me with a curious expression. "Okay." She said after several minutes, pulling out a small pink cell phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We're going to need a lot more then four guardians and one fire users to take on forty strigoi. So, I'm calling help."

***

About an hour later, cars were pulling up everywhere. Guardians and fire using Moroi started packing up the main street, so we had to move out further in the direction we'd originally come from. We had more then enough people to take out all forty or so of the strigoi, and we were still waiting for more.

It annoyed me a little when Alberta sowed up, telling me and Dimitri that we shouldn't be there and that we should go rest in a hotel or something. It annoyed me even more when the others started agreeing with her. And it annoyed to the max when we were forced back into that limo and were driven off to the academy.

"_Why_ are they sending us back? I don't even have school here anymore, I missed graduation!" I grumbled, pulling open the door to the mini fringe in the mini bar.

"Because we aren't needed, Rose." Dimitri said in a firm, perfectly clam and un-irritated voice. He was already slipping back into guardian mode already. Perfect…

Pulling out three can's I slammed the door shut and slumped back down on the seat on the other side of the car to him, ignoring his open arms. "When we get to the academy it'll be like it used to be, won't it?" I sighed, cracking open the can. "We'll have to hide."

"No, Roza, we won't. Remember, you told everything because you needed to go. They know now, so they will have to deal with it." He shook his arms, hinting that he wanted me with him, not opposite him.

I chucked him a can and he opened it. I took my spare can and my open can and went to sit on his lap again, snuggling in close to him once more. "I'd forgotten about that. It doesn't matter, anyway. We're out of school now. Well, I am. So they can't keep me there."

"That's right," He smiled; glad to see me happy again. "They can't."

"You know what I recon we should do?"

"What's that?"

I straightened up a little, trying to show him that I was being serious. "If we can't get jobs working security at the royal court, or if we can't get on as Lissa's guardian's, I think we should be lone hunters. Go around looking for strigoi, you know. Like when I was looking for you."

"Why?" he sounded confused, but not disapproving.

"Because you get to be _free_. No-one's there to give you orders and you never have to look out for anyone. If you screw up that's your problem, you don't endanger anyone else."I sighed, remembering what could have been _good_ old days. Could have been, if I wasn't under the impression that I was hunting down the only tie I had to this world. "Sure, it's lonely. But it wouldn't be with the both of us." I finished off my can and cracked open the next. All serious talking would end, soon.

He sighed into my hair. "Roza, they'll hire us somewhere at the royal court and you know it. But, if they do not, then I see no reason why we can't go off like that. I think it actually does more help hunting them down, rather then standing and waiting."

"Thank-you, _Dimka_." I giggled again at the cuteness of his nickname. "I love you." I said as the car came to a stop inside the grounds of Saint Vladimir's academy.

"I love you too." He whispered into my ear.


	12. Chapter 12

**Well, this one was a little quicker i guess. But yet again i think it's a tad on the short side, and yeah same excuse as always: it was the perfect place to stop :]**

**I like...just realized, that i never even say thank-you for your reviews. So...**

**thank-you all heaps for the reviews, they seriously are what keeps me posting! (Honestly, i'd be hopeless with out your awesome suggestions and feedback, i wouldn't know what i was doing right and wrong and then everything would just suck.)**

**So yeah, THANK-YOU!**

**Answers:  
1)Mia and Adrian were where we left them, in a room scared and confused about the strigoi that had just entered their room. The strigoi in their room are the same ones that go in Lissa's room. (Sorry about the little spoiler)  
2)Freddy her name was _Tasha_, not Tanya. LOL close though. And yeah i hated her for trying to get in with Dimka too...she'll be the first Moroi i kill off ^^ (And personally, i hate Ralf and Jesse just about as much as i hate her)  
3)You'll have to wait to find out what happens with Adrian.  
4)Hell YEAH they kept the shit they bought, i couldn't send them back to school without them!  
5)A baby...that's not a bad idea, but i don't think i could put that in just yet. Thanks for the suggestion though :]**

**I'm going to shut up and let you read now, **

**Enjoy! xxx :]  
**

* * *

**CHRISTIAN POV**

The instant the strigoi walked out of mine and Lissa's room I set them both on fire, killing them both within twenty seconds. What the fuck was that all about? And what the hell were strigoi doing in the _Royal_ _Court_!? That's not possible, it's to secure.

"Wh…what just happened?" Lissa voice was incredulous. She knew what had happened; she just didn't want to believe it. And neither did I.

I turned back towards her, closing and locking the door behind me. "Well, they didn't kill us because of Rose and that deal she made with them. You know, what Adrian was telling us about the other day?" She nodded weakly, still dazed from the attack. "And obviously, I killed them. But, what I don't understand is…"

"How did they get into the Royal court?" she finished my sentence as I sat down on the floor next to her legs.

"I don't know."I said in a dumbfound tone. "Come on. We need to go find Adrian and Mia, they could be in danger." I stood up and grabbed her hand. She followed me down the halls effortlessly, not saying a word or making a sound. She was scared…

Loud noises were coming from the bottom floor, so at least the guardians were doing their jobs right. Five guardians came flying up the staircase me and Lissa just walked past, all armed and ready.

"You two, are there any others up in this area?" one of the guardians asked.

"Strigoi? Or Moroi?" I asked, staying all serious like.

"Either." another guardian answered.

"Yeah, Mia Rinaldi and Adrian Ivashkov. We're going to get them now, and there are two dust piles down there that need cleaning up." The last part about dust was a joke, but they nodded and followed us towards where Adrian's room was, which was where Mia usually was.

I knocked on the door and heard Mia yelp. "It's Christian, hurry up we've got to get out of here."

The door opened a few seconds later and Mia ran into Lissa's arms while Adrian strolled casually along behind her, like there was nothing wrong.

Mia and Lissa started having a little sob fest, talking in voices I couldn't even begin to understand. We didn't hesitate to follow three of the five guardians down to the lower floor to the safe room. The other two were scouting out the top floor to make sure we hadn't left any behind.

"Christian I'm…scared. If they're attacking…does that mean something happened to Rose?" Lissa asked when we were locked away safely in the 'safe' room.

"No Liss, they aren't attacking Saint Vlad's people, they want everyone else. Rose is fine." Ugh. I was actually starting to _miss_ Rose. She always helped Lissa stay calm, and she always made sure there was fun to be had. Most of all she was good at what she did, so no-one ever had to worry. Psycho she may be, but I did miss her.

"Thank-you," she sobbed, hugging into my chest. God I loved Lissa so much.

No-one said anything else for a while. Every now and then you'd hear a few sobs or someone would burst out crying. I didn't realize that the queen was actually locked in here with us, but no-one really cared much either. Right now, she was just another Moroi, another Moroi who was in danger.

More and more Moroi were coming through the doors, and the noises outside had stopped a little. Maybe they were all dead…but which lot? The good guys or the bad guys? What was going to happen to us if the bad guys won?

"Alright, listen up." I stood up, confident and ready. "If the guardians out there are all dead, then we're all screwed. How many fire users have we got in here?" the queen looked horrified at that last statement, but most others seemed to realize what I was getting at, and put their hands up. "Good, that's eleven of us that can help protect the rest of us. Fire users please move towards the door area so we can be prepared." Everyone shuffled off in different directions, the vulnerable Moroi huddling up around the queen in the back of the room, while the fire users lined up around two meters back from the door.

"What about the rest of us? We just sit here and let them come? I'm an air user; I could help spread the flames quicker." A small Moroi girl with hair like mine said, standing up and walking over to us.

I nodded. "Yeah I guess so, didn't think of that. Any other air users that would like to volunteer?" people really could get creative when they were in danger, I never thought I'd be trying to take charge in a situation, little own trying to form a mini-Moroi army to fend off strigoi.

Three others stood up, one other girl and two men. The girl had unnaturally blonde hair, and the men looked like twins with light brown hair and blonde highlights.

We stood there discussing a plan of action. If the door opened and it wasn't friendly, we'd wait for them to step inside then create a small flame, and then the air users would spread them out and push them onto the strigoi. Why couldn't all Moroi work like this all the time? We'd be so much better off if we could help fight off the Moroi with out guardians instead of just sitting there being vulnerable.

Judging by the pissed off and determined looks on all of the Moroi gathered at the front of the room; they were all thinking the same thing.

The door creaked open, and we got ready to burn the next thing to step through the door, but it was a guardian. There were sighs of relief all through the room, mine included. I was a little disappointed, though. We'd organized a wicked attack plan to protect ourselves, and didn't even get to see if it'd work. Talk about lame…

"What's going on here?" the guardian asked. She was a very buff looking girl with curly blonde hair that only just touched her shoulders. Sort of like Rose's mum…

"We were organizing ourselves. Preparing to fight back if it was necessary." It was the queen that answered her. She was walking over towards the door, eyeing me off in what sort of looked like approval. "This young man," she inclined her head towards me. "Was preparing an attack strategy with the fire and air users. He wasn't prepared to stand down and be bait. He was ready to fight for his queen."

I had to bite my tongue when she said I was ready to fight for her. I was ready to fight for _Lissa_, not her. God I wanted to crack up laughing so bad…

"What's your name, child?" she asked me.

"Christian Ozera." _Child_? Who the fuck was she calling _child_?

"Ozera?" that caught her off guard. She obviously didn't think she'd been complimenting the only child of a disgraced family, did she? Hah! "I'd like to see you a little later. Once everything here is all finished I'll send someone for you." She walked out the door, four guardians breaking off the follow her.

Oh great. I was going to have a private conversation with the women who was trying to organize a wedding between my wife and her nephew. The same women who'd totally disgraced Lissa back at the start of our senior year.

This should be good.

**ROSE POV**

Once in the school grounds we were escorted to the clinic immediately to be checked for anything abnormal. Dimitri got his check-up first, and they found there was nothing wrong with him, just lack of sleep.

I'd been fairly confident there was nothing wrong with me either, but the doctors and test results said otherwise. I'd been…changing.

"What the hell do you mean I'm turning Moroi? If I was turning something wouldn't it be strigoi?" what a load of bullshit.

"No, Rose." Dr. Olendzki said, shaking his head. "I don't know what they did to you, but you are changing. Or were changing."

I glared at him. "So what? I'm part Moroi now?" I was _already_ part Moroi, but he understood it.

He nodded a little. "You're more Moroi then dhampire now, that's for sure. Haven't you noticed any changes?"

Hell no I didn't. "No doc, I don't use magic, I walk in the sun and I don't need…" blood. The strigoi had been making me drink blood, and I'd started liking the taste after a while. My glare turned into a desperate plea. "What's that mean? What's gonna happen now?" Jesus Christ…I didn't w_ant_ to be a Moroi. I _wanted_ to be a legendary guardian, not someone who needs guardians.

"I really don't know…can you feel the magic? Let me see your teeth." I opened my mouth a little, praying to god that I didn't have fangs. "You haven't exactly got fangs so to speak…but you do have two very sharp pointy canines now. Were they always like that?" I shook my head, unable to mutter words. "Okay…so you're developing fangs. Which means you probably need blood…"

I hung my head down low. I was going to be a little Moroi. No more guardian. "Can't you fix me? I mean I don't feel magic and I'm not dying over not having blood. And I can still go in the sun." I didn't _think_ I could feel the magic. And I wasn't suffering from not having any blood yet, and I hadn't tested out the sun for ages…what if I couldn't go in the sun anymore? What if I was going to suddenly start lighting fires or pushing air around? What if I actually had to start drinking blood again…?

"I don't know if you're still changing, but you'll have to come in again tomorrow so I can check. At the moment you're three quarters Moroi…Rose, you're the same as Alina." Dr. Olendzki said.

Well, that didn't seem too bad. Like, Alina was actually training to be a guardian. So why couldn't I? I was already trained to be a guardian, and if I actually did have magic I didn't really need it.

Speaking of Alina…

"Can I go now?" I asked slightly urgently. He nodded and I grabbed Dimitri's hand, taking off out the door. When I pushed it open I froze. It was night…otherwise known as day time. What if the sun _was_ going to hurt me?

"What's wrong, Rose?" Dimitri asked, turning my body towards him. My head stayed glaring off into the sunlight though.

"What…what if I can't go into the sun anymore? What if it hurts me?" the hurting part wasn't so bad.

"You heard what Dr. Olendzki said. You're like Alina, remember? And Alina can go out into the sun, so you should too." He said, stroking my hair a little.

"Oh," I said. "I'd forgotten about that." I jumped into the light, welcoming it brightly. "Cool!" I started running off towards the junior's dorms where Alina would now be located. I had so much to learn from her.

Running up the dorm hallway I almost flattened her. "Alina!" I squealed in a school girl's voice. "Oh my god I've got to talk to you!" it felt weird jumping around like a little kid, but who cares.

"What is it Rose?" she asked while she tried to hold me still. I could here Dimitri laughing freely behind us, but I couldn't give a shit.

"I'm like you!" I said, calming down a little. "I'm like you now," not really… "Well…sort of. How do you know if you feel the magic?" I asked. I'd been feeling lots of different things lately, but I didn't think any of them felt much like 'magic'.

"You're like me?" her eyes popped open wide and bright. "How? What happened?" she asked.

Ugh. I didn't think about the fact that she too would have questions to ask on the subject. "While I was gone, the strigoi made me drink Moroi blood. I just found out now that it was changing me into a Moroi, but it's stopped. We think. And the doc said I was like you are now. So how do you use magic? How do you find it?" I asked a little impatiently.

"Can you feel it?" she asked, looking just as excited as I was. "Lets go see Miss Carmack, she'll be able to help us more then I can." She grabbed my hand and took off running with me towards the class rooms.

"I'll catch up with you two later!" Dimitri called out from behind us. Woops, I'd forgotten about him.

"Bye!" I called out to him, turning around briefly and almost getting pulled flat on my ass. A guardian that could use magic…wow that'd so cool. What if I didn't specialize in fire though? Sure, I guess air could be cool. But what if I got water? Or earth? What help would they be? Sure, Mia used water to save my ass back in Spokane, but it wasn't deadly or anything.

Pulling into the class room Miss Carmack dropped her book in shock as we burst through the door. "Hello girls," she said, breathing heavy and holding her heart. "How can I help you?" she was looking at Alina when she spoke, obviously not expecting me to need any help from a magic instructor.

"_Rose_," Alina nudge me in the arm. "Needs you to help her. Apparently she's supposed to be able to use magic like me now, and she wants to know how." Alina was talking that fast that it took Miss Carmack a while to work out what the whole sentence meant.

"Rose is like you? No, Rose is a dhampire. Dhampire's don't have magic girls., you both know that." She frowned, looking a little frustrated with us both.

"No miss I was changing into a Moroi but it's stopped now. The doctor told me I was like Alina now, and Alina uses magic, so I want to know if _I_ can use magic." I was speaking faster then Alina had, so it took her even longer to work out what I was saying.

"You were changing? How?" she asked, looking both confused and eager.

I sighed, and I told her everything that had happened. Once we were done she agreed to help.

"So, how do I get to the magic?" I asked, sitting down on a desk.

"It's a feeling deep inside of you. It feels like life, like happiness and all of those sorts of things." She was trying to find a word that would mean something to me, but I knew what she was talking about already.

"The feeling that shines through the bond when Lissa heals things," I said nodding my head. "I've got it, but I can't…find it. It's in my head I think." I wasn't sure if I did. I'd started thinking that feeling was just Lissa, but what if it was _me_? That would explain why it was getting more profound every day.

She smiled, nodding. "Can you reach it?" she asked, pulling up a chair next to me and Alina.

"How? I can feel it there…it wants out. But I don't know how to let it out."

She grinned again. "Don't try and let it out, let it out. Try and make a fire," she said. Sure made that sound easy.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" I asked her, a little irritation evident in my tone.

She chuckled. "You tell me once you've done it, and if you can't make a fire I'll get you some water and soil."

I frowned, glaring at my hand. I needed Christian or something. How'd he do it? All he had to do was snap his fingers. Hell, he didn't even do that, he just made fire. Glaring at my hand still, I started trying to _will_ a fire to magically appear on my hand. It felt so stupid. "It's not working," I whined.

"Keep trying, I'll go get some water," Miss Carmack stood up and went out of the room looking for water.

"How do you do it?" I asked Alina. She'd specialized in fire as well.

She frowned. "It just sort of comes. Tell the fire to appear and it does." She grinned at me as I stared down in amazement. "Just like that."

I made a fire. I used magic and made a fire. "Wow…" I moved my hand around a bit, and the flame followed along, hovering a centimeter above my hand. "That's awesome…" I murmured in a dazed voice. Flames really were hypnotic.

"You did it!" Miss Carmack chimed, rushing in to do whatever. But in her hurry to make it to me, she tripped over a chair and the glass jug of water she was holding crashed down on her stomaching, causing a lot of bleeding.

I didn't think about what I was doing, I just got up and ran to her aid. I pulled her shirt up and started picking out some of the glass, my only motivation being to help the teacher that was helping me.

I didn't know what happened at first. I just felt this awesome feeling…a feeling just like the one that Lissa always felt when she was healing. It flowed through me, and then Miss Carmack was all better. No blood, no glass, no pain.

I was _just_ like Alina.

"Hey, you healed her Rose!" Alina stated the obvious as she came over to sit beside Miss Carmack and me. "You really are like me. Fire and Spirit, maybe those are the elements that all dhampire slash Moroi specialize in!" Alina was ecstatic, happy to finally have another person like her.

"Why don't I have that dark feeling Lissa gets when she heals people?" I asked, panicking slightly. I'd had to deal with those horrible dark feelings before, and I didn't want to deal with them again.

She smiled a little. "We aren't like Lissa, Rose. We don't go insane when we heal, no-one knows why." Alina seemed pleased with this, and so did I.

I could use magic. I could set strigoi on fire, and I could heal my Moroi if they got hurt. And I was a badass fighting machine. Man life was gonna be sweet. But then…I wasn't a guardian. Maybe I could still get my promise mark…

"Come on," I grabbed Alina's hand, pulling her up. Miss Carmack was already standing up and looking fine so I didn't mind leaving her there. "I have to talk to Kirova," I told Alina, rushing towards Kirova's office. Hopefully she'd let me get my promise mark. Then I could go find Lissa and Christian and learn how to use both my powers.

Knocking on the door Kirova invited us both in, looking a little confused. It's good to see you Miss Hathaway, and you too Miss Ozera." She nodded at us both as we sat down. "What is it you need?" she asked

"I need my promise mark," I knew from experience with Kirova that it was always best to cut straight to the point.

"I can't just give you your promise mark Miss Hathaway. You'll need to graduate." She said.

Oh you're kidding. "But I'd have to go for another year of school! I'm more advanced then many guardians and you want me to repeat my senior year of school?"

She shook her head. "No you're right, that would be rather pointless." She sat in her chair thinking hard about something, and then a light bulb clicked off. "I'll give you your promise mark if you stay and work here for a year. You can be a trainer, who better for them to learn from then yourself?"

I almost fell backwards on my chair. "You want me to teach other people how to be guardians? Are you insane? I'd drive them all crazy!"

"If you want you promise mark, sign here. If you don't the doors just behind you."

Oh you have got to be kidding me. "Listen here,"

"Rose," Alina put her hand on my arm. "You need to learn how to use your new abilities anyway. If you stay here Miss Carmack can help you, and you'll get your promise mark." She reasoned.

I sighed in defeat. She was right, it really was that simple. What's another year of being here, anyway? At least I wouldn't be a student. I'd be telling people what to do, not being told. I grabbed the pen out of her hand and signed the paper.

"Alright then." Kirova smirked in triumph. "The ceremony's already set up Guardian Hathaway, they're awaiting your presence in the Guardian HQ."

_Guardian Hathaway_. Now, I sure liked the sounds of _that._ I grinned at her and shook her hand, heading off towards the Guardian HQ.

Alberta nodded at me when I went to go inside, and I could see Dimitri standing inside, trying very hard not to smile at me. Sure, everyone knew about us now, but he still had to be all business.

"Sorry Princess, guardian's and graduating novices only. You'll have to wait outside." Alberta said, cutting Alina off.

_Princess_? I didn't know Alina was a princess… oh, right. She was Christian's half sister. So I guess she sort of was a Princess. Alina nodded and took a seat on one of the chairs outside.

Walking into the part of HQ they used for ceremonies, I was greeted by warm familiar faces. And my mother.

She didn't say anything when I walked past, she just smiled and nodded, as did I. so she'd heard…god, news spread quick. Yuri was standing at the front podium waiting for me with a grin on his face, totally ruling out any signs of control.

"You _again_, Hathaway." He chuckled as I sat down on the chair, brushing my hair over my shoulder.

I clenched my teeth when the needle started jabbing into my skin. It hurt a little, but I'd had it done before so it was manageable, just like last time.

**CHRISTIAN POV**

Me, Lissa, Adrian and Mia had been waiting for the queen to send someone out to fetch me, and when she did we all grew a little anxious. What the hell did the old bag want with _me_?

I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't hold back the hysterical laughter that was pressing itself out of my lungs. "God, and here I thought you were all business!" I cackled, wiping away loose tears of laughter. "But you do have a sense of humor!"

She waited until I finished laughing, waited with a very annoyed look on her face. "Mister Ozera. I assure you I am one hundred percent serious."

Okay, so she didn't have a sense of humor. She was insane. "You don't actually believe that anyone would sit in a class room and listen to me telling them how to use their magic to kill strigoi, do you?" she'd asked me if I would go back to Saint Vlad's to teach offensive magic to the students. I just got out of that hell hole; no fucking way was I going back.

"Yes, I do." She cleared her throat and picked up an envelope. "Your aunt has already been hired at one of the other academies like yours, and these are the papers for you. By doing this, Mister Ozera, you will not only be teaching children in need, but you will be restoring your family to power."

I sighed. Of course Tasha was going to teach offensive magic, she believed in it stronger then I did. "What's in it for me? Other then the power crap?" better to stick to the point. Working at Saint Vlad's wasn't very appealing, but I could play along for a while. Let her get her hopes up, then smash them all back down.

"You will be paid double the salary of any of the other staff. You will also be trained in other combats, the same way a guardian would. And when you have completed at least one year you will be tested, if you pass you will be given a promise mark." She smirked a little then straightened up. I'd be a guardian? "You will be one of the few Moroi capable so far of assisting their guardians in combat. You won't be defenseless."

Damn…that sounded pretty good. I'd learn how to fight hand on hand, hopefully learn how to use a stake, and make a heap of money in the process. "Alright, where do I sign?" I asked, picking up the envelope and dropping out the contents.

Once I finished signing the papers I left, going to pack my things and tell everyone what happened.

"Why are you packed?" I asked, walking into my room to find Mia, Adrian and Lissa standing with cheap grins and packed suitcases. "Are you going somewhere?" I frowned, closing the door.

"We're going to see Rose." Lissa said, pushing the suitcase she was holding to me.

"I have to pack my own, sorry honey. Get one of the guardians to help you,"

"This is yours, so are those." She pointed to the other two suitcases. "Yeah we know you work at Saint Vlad's," Lissa smirked. "So does Rose."


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay...i'm pretty positive i'll get a lot of hate mail or something for this...but i won't be back home or posting chapters until friday :S**

**I have to go see my nan because she was just in a car crash and she probably isn't going to make it which is just a little depressing. It's probably better that i don't write anything while i feel like this or i might accidently kill Dimitri off, and i know you'd all hate me with a passion if i did that. Heck, i'd hate myself with a passion if i killed Dimitri off again.**

**When i do get back i'll try and get two or three chapters up as soon as i possibly can, hopefully being from friday morning to friday night. I'm positive that i'll be able to squeeze to chapters in for the day, not to sure about the third though.**

**If you have any suggestions or little parts you would like me to put in the story somewhere along the way, send me a PM or put a review up for this little author note thingo with the little roll you want played and i'll do my best to fit it in A.S.A.P, that will be my way of saying sorry to you all.**

**And Skylar, i've almost finished the first chapter of that Christmas story, i'm sorry it's taking so long but i've just been rushing everything along for the past few days, i'm not sure if its even fit to be called a story at the moment...**

**So yes, this is me telling you i'm very sorry that i will not be posting until friday. **

**And no, i won't be leaving this up. I'll replace it with the actual chapter 13 when it's finished and ready, and of course when i get home.**

**Truly sorry, Ashley.**

**I just decided then that i would give you what i had so far on chapter 13. i guess you can tell me what to keep and what to throw if you'd like, once again i'm sorry, bye.**

**xxx**

* * *

**ROSE POV**

Today was my first day as an official guardian. And today was my first day as a teacher at Saint Vladimir's academy. And right now, I was about to try and control a class of junior novices that wanted to ask questions about what happened to me and why it took me so long to break out.

"I answered your questions, now do your work." I demanded, trying very hard to look like a responsible adult. God, I'll never bag-out guardians self-control again, this was hard work.

"And what if we don't _want_ to?" Jesse asked. Lucky for this Jesse his last name wasn't Zelko's, or he'd be my combat partner for the lesson.

This Jesse was an overly muscular dhampire with dark brown hair, style into a messy mop-top sort of hair do. He had a few freckles and his teeth were very nice looking.

I smirked. Being a teacher might be a little fun after all. "Whoever doesn't start training right now will be running laps around the oval," they snorted, unimpressed by my threat. "With me chasing them with," I jogged over to the equipment shed, hoping that big black whacking stick was still there. And it was. "This." I grinned, turning around to face my now-working class of junior's. "Much better."

"Knock knock," a familiar female voice echoed through the hall.

"Mia!" I squealed, dropping the tough love act and rushing over to greet her. "What are you doing here? You graduated, didn't you?" I released her, remembering I was supposed to be all controlled and stuff.

"_We're_ here to see Guardian Hathaway. Is this a bad time?" Lissa voice was joking, and she rushed over to me smiling.

"Your highness," I stayed in guardian mode and gave her a small bow. "How may I help you?"

Lissa got caught short. She sure as hell wasn't expecting that. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head.

I was fighting back a smile, but she noticed. "Okay, I'm a guardian now; I was trying to act like one, god. So you guys are just here to see me?" I asked.

"Yep," Adrian answered, strolling through the door grinning. "By the way, your class isn't working." He informed me.

I spun around glaring, back into guardian mode. "Are we going to work on our aerobic systems today?" I questioned and they all went back to work.

"God, would have hated being your student." Christian's voice was next.

"Christian? Sure the rest I understand, but what the hell are you doing here?" I asked a little sarcastically. Of course Christian would be where ever Lissa was.

He snorted. "I work here now." He grimaced a little. "I guess you haven't spoken to Alberta today then." He muttered.

"Why? Does she need to see me?" I snapped back into guardian mode again. It felt like I had a split personality.

"Yeah. Not now though. And they stopped working again," Christian informed me once again.

"That's twice I've had to threaten you now!" I stomped off towards them, the black whacking stick in hand. "Make it a third and you'll be running a marathon!" once again, they all jumped back into work. Walking back over to my little group of friends I sighed. "Sorry guys, I'll talk to you later. During lunch or something, but these kids aren't listening to me so I kind of can't be distracted."

"No problem," Adrian said, stepping a little closer. "They stopped again." He chuckled lightly as frustration flowed over my face. "That's our queue to leave," Adrian declared, pushing them all away towards the door. "Later Rose. I mean guardian Hathaway.

Gripping the stick so tight that my knuckles went white, I turned on the kids as horror dawned on all of their faces.

"_Three_," I said loud and clear, hitting to stick into my hand. "I'll give you ten seconds." I said glaring around at all of them. they stayed still, not moving. "One…"a few light bulbs clicked on. "Two…" another few light bulbs clicked on. "Three…" and they were off, running for the door. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, "Ten!" I roared, flying out after them. "When you finish ten laps you may return to the hall, if I hit you go sit in the middle of the oval for further punishment, or start your running again."

They all groaned in protest. This reminded me of when all the juniors were chasing after me and Nikki.

Nikki…

Where the hell was Nikki? Did she graduate? Crap, I totally forgot all about my own sister. What a loving relationship…geez! I was worse then my mother used to be!

The junior's started to slowdown and I started to speed up, managing to whack a few on my way past. I was heading for that Jesse kid; I was going to fry his ass on a BBQ if I caught him. He turned around at my approaching footsteps, his face lined with horror, and then took off like a jack-rabbit, not stopping to turn around once.

Once they finally finish all of their laps I followed the last one back to the gym. They were all groaning in protest and rubbing their arms, legs, butts, and whatever else I managed to whack. They all froze when I walked in with a muddled up face. I was trying so hard not to laugh at them, and it was so hard.

"Now, next lesson we're going to do what Guardian Hathaway appoints you to do, aren't we?" I asked in a scary-sweet voice. They all nodded in unision, grabbing their things and bailing out of the gym. When they were all gone I let out my laughter.

God. And I thought this was going to be a boring year. I wonder how Christian's going with his class…

**CHRISTIAN POV**

"push the fire don't put it out ya stupid kid," I grumbled, to a tall blonde Moroi boy who was attempting to blow the fire another tall blonde Moroi boy was holding in his hand around enough to burn the pile of papers I'd given them.

That was my deal with them. If they managed to team up and work together to burn their homework they wouldn't have any. So far, not one of them had come close to succeeding, and it was so hard to not laugh at them all.

The blonde guy snorted and glared up at me. "Why the hell don't you do it then sir?" he challenged me. Oh what an opening.

I smirked. "I specialized in fire, I'm not as poorly skilled as you and I'd be able to burn a strigoi without any help, and I wouldn't lose all of my energy. That's why I teach and you attempt to learn, so sit down and shut up." I ordered.

The other blonde boy, the one who specialized in fire, decided he didn't want to try anymore.

"If you specialized in fire, stop this." He flung a fire ball at my head, and I was quick to stop it before it caused anyone any damage. I then used the same spell I'd used on Ralf last year to make him fuck off and leave Lissa and Rose alone, and just like Ralf he fell to the ground patting himself down, screaming.

I chuckled a little then took the flame away. "Shut up ya big baby the fire isn't touching you. You use fire, you should have been able to divert that." He stood up and stopped screaming, his cheeks red with embarrassment. "Nice fire ball though, would've worked better without a warning." My first encouraging words of the day. Teaching wasn't so bad, but it wasn't all that fun either. Picking n the kids was fun though.

He flung another fire ball at me, almost immediately taking in my advice about no warning. I smirked as I stopped the fire ball again. "Nice try buddy,"

**ROSE POV**

On my way to the teacher lounge I bumped into Christian, who was smirking very widely and humming show tunes. Well, I guess that answered the whole 'I wonder how Christian's going with his class…' thing. He must have enjoyed tormenting kids as much as I did.

"How'd it go?" he asked me, chuckling at some recent memory of his.

I smiled. "Yeah it was alright. They wouldn't listen to me, so I grabbed the black whacking stick and chased them around the oval. How about you? How'd your class go?" I chuckled again at the look on Jesse's face when he heard me coming for him.

Christian laughed at my days work, with it not at it. "I got the fire and air users working together. I set out a heap of homework, and told them if they could burn their piles by the end of the lesson that they didn't have any homework."

I started laughing again at that. God, we were both going to be such cruel teachers. "What about the water and earth users?" I chuckled.

He smirked, looking a little sheepish. "I didn't exactly know how to attack with water, except for the whole suffocating thing, so I had them trying to lift the vase of water over their piles had to try to soak them without smashing the vase. And the earth users were out side digging holes to bury theirs in. I think I gave the earth users a little advantage."

"Anyone actually manage to dispatch their homework?" I asked, laughing once more. I wonder if we'd get in any sort of trouble for treating students so badly…

"Yeah, a pair of girl Moroi air and fire users aced their task within the first minute of me setting them the task. All the earth users passed, and half the water users. The others are going to be awake all night studying the laws of gravity for what they think is going to be a pop-quiz tomorrow." He grinned, looking playfully evil as he did so.

"Gravity? What's that got to do with magic?"

He laughed as we entered the lounge. "Absolutely nothing, it was just the most boring simple thing I could come up with. And there won't be a test tomorrow; I just wanted to mess with their heads."

I chuckled along with him. "At least my training session's taught them something."

He arched his eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What's that? How to run away from a crazy chick with a whacking stick?" he grinned tauntingly. "I think they pretty much mastered the, didn't they."

I tried to glare but I couldn't help but laugh again. "No actually, I think they're going to need a lot more practice. Not one of them are going to be able to sit down within the next four weeks." I scratched the back of my head, thinking back to last year, when everything was so normal. Back to those training exercises, both the skirmish and the spastic juniors. God I was going to miss that.

"Like I said, at least my lessons are educational." He chuckled, dropping his work bag on a chair next to mine while we headed over to the coffee machine.

"Bullshit. What'd you teach them? Listen to Mister Ozera or you'll spontaneously combust? Real educational." I was joking about the spontaneously combusting thing, but he looked sheepish when I said it. "You set a junior on fire? What the hell did he do?"

He shrugged. "Tried to attack me, and failed harshly." I glared at him. "I didn't burn him I swear, I used the same spell I used on Ralf, you know last year?" he smiled a little at last year. Guess he missed it too.

"Yeah, but still. Imagine how much your class must hate you if they're trying to attack you?" I said as I filled my cup with coffee. Sweet caffeine. I never would have drunk caffeine last year, but I needed it right now.

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**If you were wondering, yes my grandmother did pass on...god i wish i were Lissa Alina Rosa or Adrian, then i could have helped her /3. i don't know if that impacted the story, but if it did I'm sorry :S**

**Okay, here's the rest of chapter 13. **

He glowered at me. "Shut up. It's only a matter of time before the novices turn on you with a stick, you may be able to take on strigoi, but lets see you deal with pissed off juniors." He grinned and I grimaced.

"Pissed off juniors…" I swallowed loudly. "I've dealt with juniors before," ravenous juniors, hungry to be the best in their exams. "Scary little critters, the make strigoi look like kittens." Not even exaggerating there. Scary critters…

He chuckled, chugging the rest of his coffee. "I should probably stop bitching about your teaching techniques," he muttered, chucking his cup in the sink provided.

I was going to ask why, but Alberta interrupted. "I trust Mister Ozera has filled you in on your extra training schedule's?" she asked.

I blinked, dropping my cup in the sink next to Christians. "No, what extra training schedule's?" I asked, eyeing off Christian, who was looking rather sheepish.

Alberta raised her eyebrows and peeked over at Christian, a grin playing up the corners of her lips. "You to scared to tell her?" she chuckled a little. "You'll be teaching Mister Ozera combat techniques. He must be fit to be called a guardian by the end of the year, or you repeat your duties, as will he." He grinned and stuck a hand up when I went to protest. "Yes Hathaway I know about the agreement you signed with Headmistress Kirova, I suggest you read items before you sign them in future." She waved and walked out the door to whatever class she had next.

I turned on Christian, glaring with murderous eyes. How the hell was I going to turn a Moroi into a guardian in just one year? Not possible. But I would _make_ it possible. "You're gonna be sweating like a dog when I'm done with you, Christian." I patted him on the shoulder and headed off to my next class. Senior fitness. Oval then…maybe we could just play a soccer game…or a rugby game.

The instant I was in view of the oval they all ran into position, half scared looks on their faces. I couldn't help but laugh when I got closer and saw how afraid they all seemed to be. The juniors must have been talking. "We're going to play soccer." I grinned, tossing a ball to Jackson, one of the juniors I worked with in skirmish last year. Good old times…

"Hey Rose," Tamika waved and smiled as she hopped up to the front of the class, totally at ease and unafraid of any punishment I might apply. "Are you going to play with us?" she asked.

I grinned. Screw the tight-ass guardian shit, we were playing soccer and I was going to have some fun. "Hey Tam, yeah I guess. If there's not enough people." I took a few steps back. "Jackson, you're a captain and so are you Tamika, pick your players."

Once the teams were all selected the kids made a few rules and devised a plan. The games would go for half an hour, and I would play the winning team with a selected few from the losing team. I liked it. The teams weren't the right numbers, but no-one cared that we were only supposed to have nine players on a team and they each had eleven, it was just to have some fun. I came up with a few bonus rules for them, deciding that they were aloud to tackle other people, but only if they had the ball.

I was the umpire of course, and god was it amusing to watch them battle each other for goals. I felt sorry for the defense; they got picked on the most because they always temporarily had the ball. But the goalies…well…the clinic was going to be a little crowded during lunch. In the end of the first match Tamika's team lost, but only just by one point.

I sent them off for drinks, giving myself time to think about which four people off the losing team would be battling off Jackson's team with me. This should be interesting.

"Alright, I want Tamika, the redhead, the kid with the freckles, and Blondie over there."I waved the four of them over, earning a flower from 'the kid with the freckles' and 'Blondie over there'. "The rest of you start running laps, when you finish ten you can sit and watch. You won't lose next time, will you?" I grinned at them evilly and they all groaned, begging there laps.

Blondie chuckled. "Suckers!" she called out after them turning back to face me with a huge grin on her face that was quickly replaced with an old fear. "I-"

"Save it," I smirked at her. "Trust me, when this games over you'll be wishing that you were the one running laps." God I was gonna work that chick. "Okay so I need names."

"Amy." Blondie said, sighing and letting her face fall into a grimace as she toddled over to the field to await further instructions.

"I'm Jasper, and this is Mike." Freckle kid said, pointy at the redhead shortly after. They then followed Blondie, err…I mean Amy, over to the field.

Tamika on the other hand didn't budge. She just sat there staring at me like I was holding out on her. "What?" I finally asked, getting a little creped out. She hadn't blinked once…

"Is it true?" she blurted out.

"Is what true?" I mumbled, thinking of a number of questions that she could be referring to. I was pretty sure I knew what she was talking about though.

"That your now three quarters Moroi, and you can heal and use fire and stuff. Is it true?"

Bingo. I knew she'd go for that one. Either that or the rumors that had been going around that I'd murdered innocent Moroi to feed myself, trying to turn myself strigoi so I could get away. Not many people believed that little bit of bullshit though, so I was alright with it. "Yeah," I said, getting into position for the kick off.

She grinned. "Man that's awesome!" she chimed, taking her place beside me as a forward. "Does that mean you can have kids with a dhampire now?" she asked.

A little switch snapped n in my head. I was more Moroi then dhampire now…I could not only be with Dimitri with out causing shit, but I could have kids with him without starting a riot. Did I want kids though? "Um, I don't know. I guess so…save the questions for after we win, okay?"

She nodded, letting the subject drop.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't win, but it wasn't that bad. We tied, so there was no harm done. Amy on the other hand…well, she was completely pissed. She realized I wasn't kidding about the whole wishing she could run laps thing, and I was almost positive I'd made myself a little enemy.

I wonder if there'd ever been a case where students attacked a guardian for payback before… yes, there had. Field experience. All the seniors go nuts, smashing as many guardians as they possibly can.

I ran the class a little into lunch, because I made the winning team and my four little helpers run two laps of their own, just to make it fair.

It annoyed me a little when Christian showed up, looking ready to begin fighting someone. But that annoyance disappeared when I remembered that I got to torture him, too.

"Hey Rose," he waved, dropping a small black bag on the ground next to my own. "What are we starting with?" he grimaced when a look of pure evil flashed across my face.

"Laps. Fifteen, now." I commanded, point at the juniors that were just finishing up. I grinned. "And it's Guardian Hathaway when you're speaking to me now." I chuckled a little, seeing the desperate plea for help cross his features.

"You can't be serious." He scoffed, raising both his eyebrows. "That's torture."

"I'm training you the way my mentor trained me." I said, jabbing a finger in the direction he was supposed to be running now. "Speaking of mentor's…" I muttered as my eyes locked on too Dimitri's approaching figure.

"Hello guardian Hathaway." He nodded at me, remaining in guardian mode.

"Hey comrade, you teaching classes still?" I asked, turning towards Christian with a little smirk. We'll see how he likes dealing with Dimitri if he won't put up with me. This was the same training Dimitri put me through when he was teaching me.

"No, I just observe. As I will be observing your next class with the senior Moroi." He's bottom lip trembled a little, and I heard Christian chuckle.

"You guys don't have to pretend you aren't into each other, everybody knows. Cut the formal shit," he said, not bothering with any sort of courtesy.

I turned around at him, glaring. "If you don't start working your laps I'll be collecting that stick I used with the juniors first session." I threatened. He glared at me but started running, the instant his back was turned I spun around to Dimitri's waiting arms.

He sighed into my hair. "Roza…" he's arms were tight around my shoulders, making it difficult for me to pull back and kiss him.

"Dimka," he giggled a little, and then stopped, thinking about Tasha Ozera. Tasha Ozera who had tried to take Dimitri from me. God, I wish I could hate her so much, but I just couldn't she was to cool. "What do you mean class with the Moroi? My next session is free, I was going to catch up with Lissa, Mia, and Adrian and see if I could find out what happened to Nikki, and who Eddie got assigned to." I mumbled, falling back to my feet when I heard Christian laugh as he passed us. "Keep Running!" I called out to him.

Dimitri laughed a little. "Nikki and Eddie were both assigned too Lissa because you and I were gone. They're being reassigned to Mia now that we're back, but right now they're on their break. Apparently they're coming to visit you soon. And I will be observing the class that Lissa is assisting with, you'll be learning how to use your magic with Christian and Lissa, but first you have to attend some of the basic elemental control classes for fire specialists, and I'll be keeping watch on you." He grinned.

"Oh god." I grimaced. "How embarrassing, a guardian being taught in classes." I sighed. "Oh well, I'll get over it I guess." As if. I was gonna cop some crap for this…

"Don't worry," he said, smiling down at me warmly. "You'll be posted as any other guardian; you just have to pay attention to what's being said. If you can't keep up you'll be stuck in a chair with a pen and paper though, so try not to get distracted…"

"Like that's possible when you'll be in the same room as me," I muttered, already picturing myself sitting amongst the Moroi kids.

He grimaced. "You're right. I'll just stay out here and coach Christian then," he glanced over as Christian came to a halt beside us.

"There," he puffed, taking a swig out of his bottle. "Fifteen laps. What's next?"

"It's time for classes." Dimitri announced, releasing my body and snatching my hand. "Best you cool down and get to class Mister Ozera." Dimitri suggested, pulling me along side him.

"I'll meet you at the gym after school," I told Christian, waving goodbye. Turning back to Dimitri I linked my arm through his, leaning my head against his arm. "Do you think they'll let us share a room? Or will they force me into my own stubby little box?" living in the same room as Dimitri and not being surrounded by strigoi sounded pretty damn awesome.

He shrugged, draping an arm over my shoulders. "Guess we could ask. And if they say no who cares, guardians don't have curfews…" I felt his silent laughter rock through my body, sending waves of pure pleasure through me. Nothing made me feel better then knowing Dimitri was happy. Well, okay, the only thing that topped that was knowing that Dimitri was happy with _me_, and that no-one would ever take him away from me again.

Heck, they couldn't do anything to keep us apart now. I was old enough to stay with him now, and no-one could do anything about it. He'd gone strigoi, and I'd still gotten him back. I'd been kidnapped by strigoi, and he came and found me. I was scared of nothing more then losing him, but nothing could ever take him from me. If he got hurt, I could heal him. If he got stolen, I would find him. Heck, if he died I could bring him back, just like Lissa brought me back.

_Nothing_ in this world was strong enough to take him from me.

"Roza what's wrong?" Dimitri's concerned voice rattled through my head as his fingers gently brushed away the falling tears. Shit, I didn't even realize I was crying.

"Oh," I sniffed, rubbing my eyes and blinking a few times. "I was just thinking about you and me." I smiled and blushed, a little embarrassed that my emotions just got the best of me.

He pursed his lips. "And that thought makes you cry?"

I laughed. "Tears of joy."

He smiled. "What were you thinking about exactly?" he asked, curiosity evident in his tone.

"About how no matter who or what tries to take you from me I'll always get you back." No need to go into mushy details, I think he got the picture.

Pushing through the doors of the class room I wiggled out of his grasp, molding my features into a mask of discipline as I took my place at the back of the room, posted against the wall. Dimitri seemed impressed at how quickly I changed my mood, which almost caused me to crack and grin. He saw that, and I saw the corner of his lips tremble slightly upward.

And then Christian walked in, glaring straight at me with a murderous revenge seeking aura. He smirked a little, and I grimaced. He was going to rat me out to the class, wasn't he? We'll see how long he lives after that.

"Sit down and shut up," he commanded to the class and everything instantly became still and quiet. Guess the class with the kid he set on fire were talking too. "Today we'll be working on the basics. I can tell you now that if you can't control your fire the strigoi are going to walk all over you." He dropped a pile of books on the end of his desk, peering around the classroom. "Alright, let's say you can control a fire. I'm willing too let you off this lesson if you can prove it." He smacked the pile in front of him, smirking. "If you put a flame around the book with out turning it to ash you don't have to do any theory and I'll cut you straight through to the prac. And if you try and fail, you owe the school a new text book. Anyone game to try?" he grinned, looking around to class room at a bunch of cowering Moroi. I wanted to stand up and try my own, but I'd blow my cover if I did that. "No-one? What a shame. Alright, come get your books."

The lesson went on and it was boring as hell. One girl did speak up and try the flame around the book thing, but she screwed up and turned the book into a puff of ash and a lot of smelly gray smoke. Christian didn't look at me during the rest of the lesson, for which I was grateful. Yes he was a cruel teacher, but his methods seemed to work. Whenever he read something out he would demonstrate. By the end of the lesson he had half the class controlling flames and surrounding their text books, happily getting out of any homework Christian would have assigned.

"So," Dimitri said once the room was empty. "What's your next class?" he dropped an arm over my shoulder like he had earlier, and I snuggled in closer to him.

"Um…I don't know actually. Something in the gym, combat I think." First day and I'm already screwing up my time table. Some responsible organized guardian I turned out to be.

He frowned. "Guess I've got another one of Christian's classes to watch." He sighed and released me, taking both my hands in his. "I'll see you later, hopefully. I'll ask Alberta about your room, I'm sure I'll be able to get her to stuff us in the same room." He smiled and bent down to kiss me. When he went to pull back I swung an arm around his neck and pulled him back. No way was I letting him get away that early.

A few minutes passed, and we parted only because a few giggling Moroi girls were about to take photo's of us. One of them got us with a flash camera and took off running before we could see who she was.

Getting to the gym, a found a class of junior Moroi waiting for me. "Moroi?" I asked, dropping my bag next to the small wooden desk in the gym. "I'm teaching Moroi combat lessons?" I pushed backwards onto the desk, sitting up on the edge. "Or am I in the wrong room?" it seemed possible.

The class had a little laugh, and I saw a girl holding a phone and showing her friends something. Aw crap… "You."I flung myself at her, stopping inches in front of her and snatching her phone. I grimaced. "Pervert." I muttered, looking at the picture of me and Dimitri with locked lips. "Confiscated. We'll talk punishments after class." I glared her down and chucked her phone onto my bag.

"Whata' ya know. You did show up, thought you and Belikov would be locked up in a room somewhere." Christian was just exiting the equipment room, carrying bags of gloves that were similar to boxing mitts but not as effective for ensuring less bruising.

"Shut ya face lover boy, just cause Lissa's got shit to do now don't mean you gotta' come up here bein' all jealous like." My voice, tone, and the little click I did during that sentence made me want to crack up laughing. I sounded like a wannabe gangsta chick.

"Did you turn black in the ten minutes you were gone?" Christian asked, dropping the bags on the floor.

There were come collective snickers and giggles throughout the class. "God, you're so racist Christian. If I were black I'd flog you. But since I'm Rose, I'll wait until our training sessions later before I torment you." I smiled a sarcastic smile and he glowered at me.

"These are all air and earth users, both senior and juniors. There's a few other guardian's coming to help you out, and what you have to do is fight them off. Don't actually kill them or anything Rose, remember they're Moroi, not novices, so don't go knocking them all out." He smirked at me, and I chuckled.

"I'll do my best…can't make any guarantee's."I strutted up to his side and turned to face the class, switching into my awesome guardian mode. "Do not hesitate to attack me. If you aren't attacking me with the intent of killing me, you'll get your ass handed to you. Understand?" they all nodded as the door opened and a dozen or so guardians piled in, none of which were Dimitri. Damn.

"Those are your helpers Rose, they already know what to do." Christian nodded towards them like it wasn't already totally obvious.

I snorted. "Oh thank-you Mister Ozera, I never would have worked that out if you hadn't of pointed it out. I am forever in your dept."

He playfully punched my arm. What the hell? "Shut up, I was just trying to help." Again… what the hell?

"You're a bit of a freak some times Christian, did you know that?" I arched an eyebrow, a rather awesome skill I learnt from Dimitri.

He glowered again and sighed, tossing me a pair of combat mitts. "Shut up and go scare some kids." He muttered, walking over to the little wooden desk with an overly pissed-off look on his face.

What's up his ass?

**CHRISTIAN POV**

"Those are your helpers Rose, they already know what to do." I nodded myhead over in the direction of the new arrival guardians.

She snorted. "Oh thank-you Mister Ozera, I never would have worked that out if you hadn't of pointed it out. I am forever in your dept." her voice was overly sarcastic.

I smirked and playfully punched her arm. "Shut up, I was just trying to help." I'd forgotten how much I liked fighting with Rose. Even know she pissed me off a _lot_, she was still an awesome friend when she wasn't being a bitch.

"You're a bit of a freak some times Christian, did you know that?" She arched an eyebrow, and stared at me like a had mental problems.

I glowered again and sighed, tossing her a pair of combat mitts. "Shut up and go scare some kids." I muttered, walking over to the little wooden desk that our bags were sitting next too. As I was saying, when she's not being a bitch.

I sat and watched as her and the guardians walked out over to the oval so that the earth users would have something to attack with, but I didn't follow. I just sat there, pissed off and…I don't know what that other emotion was. Hurt? Guilt? Jealousy? What the fuck would be hurting me? Or what was making me feel guilty and jealous?

Rose?

But why? She's always bitchy, so it wasn't hurt, that's for sure. Guilt? But what did I do that I don't always do that would make me feel any sort of guilty? But then that left jealousy…that's it. I was jealous. Question is, why?

What in this world would make me jealous of Rose? Sure, we used to have little jealousy issues over how we both had to share Lissa, but that had long passed. Maybe because she was famous and strong…no way. Soon enough I'd be just as strong and…okay, maybe not as strong but you get the point.

Why was _I_ jealous of _Rose_?

Maybe it wasn't Rose…it involved Rose, yes, but it wasn't exactly Rose I was jealous of. It was someone close to her…Lissa? Nope.

I sighed loudly, frowning and giving up on my jealousy issues for a moment I walked out to watch them practice and do my job.

I looked at all of them, searching for someone. I stopped my frenzied search when I locked onto Rose. She was currently being piled in rocks while having air whipped at her face, causing her hair to fly out behind her head like the waves in an ocean, getting large then curling over and crashing into the sea again. She jumped out of the rocks and dirt to be flung through the air by another lash of air, crashing down into the grass on her hands and knee's. I flinched, almost feeling the pain of impact through the stance she took up next, wobbly and tired.

They were hurting her bad. Probably trying to get revenge for all the shit se put them through. She started running forward, gritting her teeth, her eyes locked on the two Moroi senior boys standing ahead of her. She didn't noticed the huge lump of dirt that another Moroi boy from another group was currently hurling at her, so when it smashed into her she took the blow hard, crashing to the ground looking battered and broken.

She could have just stayed down like the other two defeated guardians, but she got back up, glaring at the Moroi kid who sneak attacked her. She was on guard now, scanning the area while flinging herself at the little shit that smashed her with earth. When she made contact with the boy, he hit the ground hard, groaning out in pain and calling out 'mercy' in a winded voice.

Just as I started laughing I noticed all the other guardians were now on the ground, waiting for the exercise to end. And their Moroi were all forming a circle around Rose, angry and pissed off looks on their faces. The air users pushed her too the ground while the earth users gathered dirk and then piled it all on her in a hill that would have to have been at least a meter or two high.

They were going to kill her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's chapter 14, but if you haven't read the second part of chapter 13 that i just posted close your eyes and go back a page :O**

**Err...i'll apologize in advance for the little...unhappy part in this. It should become pretty obvious pretty fast, but yeah i'll just say sorry now. God, i say sorry a lot, don't i?**

**Answers:  
1)Yes Rose and Dimitri _can_ have kids, and they _might_ have kids, i don't know yet. (So many people asked that question, so i'm pretty sure that i'll have to put kids in there somewhere along to way)  
2)Yes indeed i have _thought_ about making Adrian fall for Mia, but there's a lot of other things i need to play in before i can work that little complication in.  
3)No, this time it wasn't the novices that attacked Rose.  
4)At the start of the book Rose was gone for 2 months after Dimitri, then she was gone for about Four months when the strigoi got her.  
5)Nah Nikki and Eddie aren't going out...yet.  
6)Nikki's been Lissa guardian with Eddie because Rose and Dimka were gone.  
7)Dimitri does still work at the school.  
8)No they don't share a space just yet, but Dimitri's going to fix that up with Alberta.  
9)Skylar i underlined your name to get your attention, did it work? :P**

**Very needy question here, i can't finish the next chapter without an answer. What was Rose's dads name? I know it started with and I, but i forgot it and can't find my shadow kiss book.**

**Alright, i'll leave you to the story :]**

**Enjoy! xxx  
**

* * *

**DIMITRI POV**

The class I was currently watching wasn't Ozera's or Rose's, which was a little annoying. It was amusing to watch them teach, because they were both so cruel to the students. The instant it ended I headed for the door, hoping to catch Rose before her next class.

A year of snatching her between classes was going to suck, but at least she'd be free after that. Or should I say, _we'd_ be free after that.

I saw Lissa up ahead, and she spotted me moments later. Her expression caught me off guard and scared me. Her cheeks were tear streaked and there were red brims around her eyes.

I grabbed her by the shoulders, not hard but firm. By the looks of it, it was actually stopping her from collapsing. "What's wrong princess?" I asked franticly. Oh god, please don't let her say…

"Rose," she sobbed, more tears flowing down her face.

I knew it.

All but dropping the princess, I took off running for the clinic, not a moment of hesitation as I ripped through the corridors and flew down the stairs. Busting through the doors of the clinic I found nurses rushing everywhere.

I pulled one of them up, her body jerking to a stop. "Where's Hathaway?" I demanded, and she grabbed my arm and pulled me along in the same direction she was headed before I stopped her.

Dr. Olendzki was leaning over a dirty, pale version of Rose, franticly pushing on her heart. Another nurse wheeled one of those machines with the electric jolty things and the doctor immediately started work with those.

I heard a weak sob sound off from a chair in the corner of the room and turned to see Christian Ozera, glaring at me with red brimmed eyes and a tear stricken face. Ozera was crying?

"What happened?" I demanded, my lower lip trembling as I bit back swear words and blinked back tears.

He just stared at me wordlessly for a moment, with some unjust hatred painted all over his features. "They took it too far because I didn't go down to the field and instruct them." he sniffed, quickly whipping away a stray tear. "They buried her alive…they didn't even know that she was dying for fuck sakes!" he roared, fury burning in his eyes.

"_Who_ buried her alive?" I growled, clenching my fists and preparing to go on a strigoi killing rampage.

"All of the Moroi in hospital beds that are burnt. And a few that managed to bail out after they restricted me." Hatred was all over his face. I was pissed off too, but I wouldn't have attacked Moroi. Wait…

"She…"the tears of weakness started to swell up along the bottom lines of my eyes. "She… She's… not… no…" I could even make the question come out right, how pathetic.

"_Dead_." He mumbled, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth together a few times. "She's DEAD! They MURDERED HER!" he screamed, flinging himself out of the chair with fire on his hands. "I'll kill them all!" I tackled him to the ground and threw him over my shoulder, running him outside of the clinic.

"Christian!" I said, slapping him in the face the way they would on the movies. "Calm down." Easy to say, not easy to do. I was on the brink of exploding myself, I sure wasn't in any condition to be telling people to calm down.

He glared at me but relaxed a little. He chuckled darkly, almost like an evil laugh. "If anyone's going to kill anyone it'll be you, so don't bother telling me to clam down." He spat the words almost accusingly.

"What the hell is your problem Ozera? If I wanna fucking snap I have every damn right to!" I hissed, throwing myself to my feet. "That woman is the one I love! That woman is he one that brought me back from immortality as a monster! The woman I spent three months looking for! The woman I was prepared to spend the rest of my life with in a strigoi infested mansion! Don't you tell me who's going to snap!" I literally growled, but he didn't flinch back from my words, even know I was screaming them in his face. "What's it matter to you? All you two ever did was argue and fight, what gives you the right to set a class of Moroi on fire for her, huh?" my words were harsh and unthinking. Like Rose said once when she worked another part of me out, I was always fighting for control. Just like her. And right now, I couldn't control myself. So I did what was safe and took off running for the gates of the school, at least no-one would be hit with this fury if I left.

**LISSA POV**

Mia and Adrian laughed together after the bubble of water Mia was holding dropped on my head, causing my recently straightened her to turn into a fuzz ball. I sighed as usual and went to get the door.

It was Alberta, and she looked concerned and grim. "Rose is…hurt." She said.

Adrian and Mia were up and at my side as we pushed through the doors heading for the clinic almost impulsively at her words. "Get Alina!" I ordered her as we started running. If it was anything serious that I couldn't take care of then Alina could do it, but hopefully it'd just be little so me and Adrian could handle it.

Pushing through the clinic doors we got quick instructions to Rose's room. The clinic was a mess. There were nurses rushing everywhere, people screaming and others crying.

Christian was in the room with Rose, and he was _crying_. That was something even I didn't see much of, so it was a little shocking to see him weeping over a very still and muddy body that was Rose.

She was dead.

I ran over to her corpse, almost knocking Christian flat on his face as I pressed my hands to her chest, letting the magic flow. Adrian was at my side instantly, his hands mimicking mine. We stayed there, pushing life into her for what seemed like an eternity before I decided we needed Alina.

Adrian went to go help the other patients that had been burned severely by something and I ran off looking for Alina. Just as the classes started coming out I spotted Dimitri looking at me with a praying-to-god sort of expression. Here comes trouble.

He grabbed me by the shoulders, not hard but firm. He actually stopped me from falling on my face. "What's wrong princess?" he asked franticly.

"Rose," I sobbed, more tears flowing down my face.

A certain desperate and disbelieving look crossed his face, and he dropped me and took off running back the way I'd just come running from. God I felt half sorry for whoever did that to Rose, they were going to be a lot deader then her when he got to them.

Then again I was only half sorry. The more dominant half of me wanted to go find who it was and rip them limb from limb.

I continued on down the hallway looking for Alina, when I finally found her she actually had to heal me before I could talk to her. I drained most of my energy trying to fix Rose…and she just wasted some of her energy on me.

"Let's get you to the feeders," she said dragging me to the feeder's room. I drank a little more then necessary, and then demanded that she drink as well, even know it was unnecessary for her. I also managed to get two feeders that hadn't been fed off today to come, just incase we needed the extra strength.

"Lissa, what are we doing? What's wrong?" she asked in what sounded like irritated frustration.

I'd forgotten that I didn't actually tell her about Rose. "Rose is dead." was all I said, and then she finally understood why we were running, not walking. When we got there Christian was lying on the grass outside, tears still fresh on his cheeks. He didn't look up or even flinch a little when we ran past into the clinic, he just stayed lying there, looking dead.

Entering Rose's room we found Adrian glaring at anyone that tried to get close to Rose, when he saw us and the feeders he eased up, sinking his fangs into a feeder to regain strength. Once he was finished he found a spot on Rose that wasn't filled and got prepared.

"On the count of three," Alina said in a firm voice, sort of like the one Rose would use when she was in what she liked to call 'super awesome guardian mode', and me and Adrian nodded, faces firm. "1…" my muscles tightened a bit. "2…" we all took in a deep breath of anticipation. "3." Our anticipating breaths flew out, and the magic became a visible aura not only to us spirit users, but to the gasping nurses and doctors also consuming the room.

I and Adrian both had to feed halfway through, but Alina didn't falter even a little. She looked determined and desperate, but at the same time seemed to be displaying almost no emotion at all.

Rose wasn't showing any improvement at all though, which was idiotic. I'd brought her back by myself years ago, so why couldn't three of us bring her back now? The question was running through each of our minds, but not one of us had the strength to voice it. Me and Adrian had to feed again, and this time so did Alina. One of the nurses sent for more feeders, just incase we ran out.

Finally I couldn't hold it in. "Why isn't it working?" I spluttered out, the tears I'd been holding back flowing freely down my cheeks and dripping onto Rose's cold, pale white face.

The door creaked open, and Dimitri entered the room with Christian at his side.

We all grew still when we felt the little flicker in Rose's body. It wasn't her heart, but it was something.

"No…" Dimitri's voice was almost inaudible, and when we turned to face him his face was lined with horror. He saw something that he recognized, something that we all quickly picked up on.

Rose was cold, and her skin was unnaturally pale and white. She'd just started breathing and twitching but her heart was still unmoving. We were attempting the wrong thing. Rose wasn't dead.

Rose was strigoi.

**ROSE POV**

All I could see was blackness, and all I could here was someone crying. I couldn't find that someone though, and they wouldn't answer my calls when I called out to them. I hope it wasn't Lissa…or Dimitri.

Why the hell was it so dark?

I felt a tingle on my skin and some loose emotions seeped through the bond. Anxiety, horror, and depression.

"No…" I heard him breath almost inaudibly, but the pure hatred flooding his tone was quite audible.

My eyes fluttered open and I found myself facing the all too familiar clinic roof. Something close smelt good…something smelt very, very good. But I couldn't pull my eyes from the ceiling.

There was something different about the light, and everything seemed a little sharper and more defined then it usually did. It was like my eyes were stronger, like I was seeing every little detail of the roof above me.

I blinked and sat up, looking around the room in a daze. It wasn't just the roof I saw better, it was everything.

And everyone.

They were standing over near the door, looking very upset and afraid. None more so then Dimitri…

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I demanded, flinching a little at my voice. It seemed… different, new, like I hadn't heard it for a while. How long was I unconscious? No body was answering my question. "Well?" I asked again, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. They all flinched back and rustled up some air.

Shit, that smelt _good_, like…wow. Better then anything I'd ever sniffed before. "What's that smell?" I asked in some sort of disorientated haze. I had to have it…it was calling to me. Screaming for me to eat it, to devourer every last crumb, or every last drop.

Dimitri saw the hunger on my face and his hand slid into his pocket, when it came back out he was gripping his stake with tears in his eyes.

And then it hit me, the light bulb clicked on.

The darkness while I was partially unconscious, the seeing everything totally clear and defined once I opened my eyes. The smell. I must have been…no. bullshit. I didn't drink strigoi blood, so I'm certainly no strigoi.

Looking into Dimitri's tear filled eyes, I searched for my reflection, gasping and throwing myself back against the wall when I saw the pale faced, red eyed, brown haired strigoi girl glaring back at me.

I saw myself.

I reacted on impulse, realizing immediately that the mouth watering smell I wanted was my worried and scared Moroi friends, I smashed the wall down and ran straight out into the outdoors and found myself facing a crowd of anxious - but now scared and confused, - students.

I jumped over most of them and kept my feet moving as I wheeled for the gate. I couldn't be here, I could hurt somebody. They all smelt so good though…I didn't _want_ to leave, I wanted to stay and feed.

"NO!" I screamed at myself. I did _not_ want to stay and feed on these kids. I couldn't do that. That would make me strigoi...strigoi I may look, but I will not be a strigoi. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll work it out.

Once I could control this horrible hunger crazed thirst I could go back… I could contact Alina, I could get her to change me back when she was no longer in danger of me. Then I could go back, I could go back with Dimitri.

Running for the gate, I smashed into what felt like a wall of fire. Shit…how was I supposed to get through the wards? The guardian at the gate was staring at me, looking afraid and confused. And I knew him.

"Guardian Davis. I know you need to kill me because yes, I am strigoi, but I _need_ you to let me through the wards before I hurt someone. Please just let me out." I begged, all but falling to my knees when I heard the foot steps rushing towards me. That had to be Dimitri…

"Rose!" Alina cried, running towards me with a desperate expression.

"NO!" I roared, throwing myself at the ward again. "Get away from me!" I hissed, literally, and she skidded to a stop. "Alina I have to get out of here." I turned on Davis again. "Let me out." I growled. His eyes glazed over and he smiled, nodding. Compulsion? Sweet…

"Open all of the wards, but close them within the next minute." I commanded. He smiled and nodded again, pressing a button and gesturing for me to leave.

"But Rose I can-" Alina started.

"No, Alina. I'll kill you. It's…too hard not to. I nearly jumped at you all in the clinic, don't give me the opportunity." And with that I started backing away further, seeing Dimitri, Lissa, Adrian, Mia, and Christian running over towards me. "I'll come back when I can control myself." I risked one last look at Dimitri before I turned to run away.

His expression was torn and his eyes were desperate. Tears were gushing from his eyes, making mini waterfalls of salty water on his face. Pulling on a hard face, I mouthed the words 'I love you' one last time before taking my leave. I would be back for him.

I just didn't know when.

***

I was now living in a small cottage deep in the mountains of Alaska, far away from any civilization. All I did everyday was lay in the snow, staring at the sky and seeing nothing but Dimitri's tear stricken face. It haunted me no matter where I went. The only time I moved was when the sun came out, and then all I'd do was take a few steps into the house and collapse again.

I wasn't sure how long ago it had happened now, but my love for him hadn't faltered in the slightest. I moved to a place that had no connections to me at all, so there was no need to worry about running away again.

I thought that I would have died by now. I hadn't eaten…or drunken, anything at all. Even strigoi had to need to eat, so why didn't I just die?

I'd been thinking of ways to control my thirst so I could go back to see Alina, but every plan but one had failed. Well…I was positive they would have failed, but I didn't bother trying.

The one plan that I thought was a possibility was out of a book that was supposed to be popular amongst the humans, she'd read it while we were away from the academy. Something about a chick that loved a vampire, Lissa read it and was trying to get me to read it as well, so I got her to tell me about it. Then when she asked me if I'd read it I said 'what's the point? You just told me what happens in all four books.' she'd gotten a little mad after that.

The vampire the chick in the book supposedly loved was supposed to be like a strigoi, except no stakes and magic were involved. And they _sparkled_ in the sunlight. But instead of killing humans, these vampires lived off the blood of animals.

So the plan I thought could work was: to live off the blood of animals. It could work if I could find the will power to move and go find something to kill.

It was getting annoying living in solitude. I was always so lonely, and wildlife gets really annoying when you have to listen to the same birds over and over again.

It was weird, too… because could still feel Lissa in my head. I did try every now and then to get in her head, but my body and mind seemed incapable of working. They'd shut down due to the lack of Dimitri.

Dimitri…

Karma's a bitch. Earlier the day this all started I was sitting there going over how nothing could ever take him from me.

But did I think about me getting taken away from him?

I wanted to kick myself for not considering it, but my body didn't agree with me, and as always it refused to co-operate with me.

I decided yesterday that I would go hunt down something to eat today, that when I stood up to drag myself into the snow I'd keep walking, looking for any sort of animal. So far it'd been working.

"Okay legs, just keep walking and I'll feed you. If this works, I'll let you wrap around Dimitri when we go home." I patted my things and they picked up the pace as if they had a mind of their own.

I started sniffing the air, anxious for something to sink my fangs into.

I sighed. God… I actually had _fangs_. It was so weird… and to think I was scared I was going to turn Moroi. Look at me now, a bloodthirsty strigoi tracking down animals in the wilderness.

Something ripped me to the east, and suddenly all I could think about was a repulsive but sweet smell pulling me towards it. Before I could work out what was happening I smashed into a bear of some sort, fangs sinking into its throat as my hands formed claws and hooked down into its fur.

The taste was so good, and then it was over. But I needed more… I stuck my nose back up into the air, and then as another smell slammed into me I let my legs carry me towards it. When I was finished and feeling somewhat energized and full, I headed back to the cottage.

"Wow…" I breathed, wiping off some of the blood running down my face. That book actually worked. Animal blood _was_ filling. So did that mean I could go back? Maybe not yet…better give it a week.

When I was back outside the cottage I went inside and stood in front of the mirror, examining the only pair of clothes I had.

There was dried up and smudged blood all along the bottom half on my face from mouth down, and my clothes were blood stained and tattered, making me look like an absolute savage.

I sighed and went to go lay in the snow again, slightly cheerful this time. Soon enough I'd be able to leave, to go back to Dimitri, to be with him again.

Feeling the pull from Lissa's head I tried to force myself in again, finally finding success

She was in a minibus with Dimitri at the wheel. Beside her were Christian and Alina. Sitting in the row behind them was Adrian, Mia, and…my mum. What the hell was she doing there…? In the front near Dimitri there was another Moroi guy that was asleep. He sure as hell wasn't from Saint Vlad's, he was way too old. It pissed me off a little to see Tamika and Jackson in the car, and I was overjoyed to spot Nikki and Eddie. There was another two random guardians in the back; they must have belonged to the sleeping guy.

"She's gotta' be here somewhere, we've checked every other part of America _and_ Russia. But why the hell would she be in Alaska?" Mia asked Dimitri. They all seemed to be in almost high spirits… Dimitri on the other hand looked dead.

"She wouldn't. She likes the sun, which is why she came here, because she knew we wouldn't look for her here." Dimitri's tone was just as flat and dead as he looked.

"Dimitri it's been half a year, she'll be in control now and we'll bring her back. And we've already got a spot to look for her." Lissa grinned, thinking about my humble little cottage. It took me a minute to figure out that this was very bad.

They knew where I was hiding.

And I'd been gone for half a bloody year, holy shit. Sure didn't feel like that, I would've guessed around a month or something, but six months was a bit over board. I'd been a strigoi for six months, and I'd gone without drinking anything right up until today. That's actually kind of impressive…and depressing. Dimitri was getting older, but I wasn't… well, it wouldn't be that much older, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

The big problem was that they knew where I was, and they were coming for me.

"Did you see how fast she was running when she left?" Alina scoffed. "She's a freaky strigoi, they don't run that fast. They don't breakdown walls and run away from their prey, either." She muttered.

Lissa frowned, feeling that I was in her head but not knowing what it was. "Rose?" she asked, frowning in confusion again.

Everybody in the minibus turned to look at her except Dimitri and the sleeping guy.

May as well give it a try. "Liss if you can here me say hi to Dimitri for me." I sighed, knowing very well that the bond only –

"Err," she stuttered. "Dimitri… I think Rose just told me to tell you Hi,"

What the fuck? "What the fuck you can hear me?" I squeaked in a high pitch voice.

"Apparently. Oh my god Rose!" she squealed, slapping her hands as Dimitri pulled the minibus to a stop.

"Rose can you hear me?" he asked, his voice desperate.

Should I be talking back to them? Well, it's a bit late now, I already had. "I love you Dimitri." God I'd wanted to say that for so long…

Lissa coughed. "Keep it PG Rose." I laughed at that as she turned back to Dimitri smiling. "She says she loves you."

"Listen to me, Roza. I love you too, more than anything, we need to fix you, so you need to stay in Alaska." His pleading eyes seemed to bore right into my soul. I scoffed. Year right, what soul would that be?

"No." was all I said.

"She said no." Lissa glowered at the seat in front of her. "Please Rose, we need you back." She begged.

"I can't see you guys yet…I don't know what I'll do. I just started feeding again today." I announced proudly.

Lissa on the other hand grimaced. "Why do you sound happy about that? Have you gone over to the dark side, Rose?" her voice was both mocking and scared.

I snorted. "I haven't hunted in six months, and today I finally pulled up the strength to go hunting. Why wouldn't I be proud?"

"Your proud of killing innocence?" he scoffed, eyes wide with shock.

Oh, woops. "Oh, gosh no. I don't kill Moroi or dhampire's or humans for that matter. I ate a bear or two and a few deer's. Made a mess, too…" I trailed off, re-examining myself.

"Animals?" she blinked. "How?"

"Damn it," Nikki interrupted. "What are you two talking about?" she demanded.

"Sorry, forgot you guys couldn't here her." She shook her head briefly, mentally kicking me.

"Ow," I joked with her and she started laughing.

"We were talking about how she doesn't think that she's fit to see us again yet, and how she hunted for the first time today." They all grimaced at the hunting part. "She took out to bears and some deer's." she grinned, absorbing the shocked faces hat spread around her.

"She's eating animals? Like out of twilight, you know the Cullen's?" Mia asked, edging a little closer.

"Yeah that's where I got the idea. I think it worked like a charm." I said, smiling proudly.

"She said yeah that's where she got the idea. She thinks it worked like a charm," she repeated me out loud.

"Well if she's like the Cullen's now, why can't we see her?" Mia asked in a whiny voice.

"Because I'm not like the Cullen's, I'm _real_. The Cullen's are make believe, and make believe things can't kill you. _I_ on the other hand am real, and I'm a blood thirsty strigoi, which is why you can't." I answered back.

Lissa repeated me again and they all sighed in defeat, Dimitri moving back to the front seat to continue driving towards me.

"The sun comes up in half an hour Roza, you'll turn to dust if you try to run now." Dimitri said, seeming happy about this.

"Shit." I muttered, hearing myself echoed through Lissa. "Alright. You can see me on one condition."

Lissa repeated me, and Dimitri asked "What condition?" in a wry voice.

"If I look like I'm going to hurt someone stake me, and do _not_ hesitate to do so." I stated my demand in the same moment my nose caught the smell of another bear. Through Lissa I realized that she could smell the bear through me, and when I snapped out of her head I felt her presence in mine.

Running through the snow and trees I found the bear eating a deer, and didn't hesitate to drain it dry. Lissa was both grossed out and happy about the kill. She didn't like seeing me as a ravenous vampire, but she was glad that I wasn't killing people.

"Nice, Rose." She said, and this time she was the one in my head.

"How are you in my head?" I asked her.

"I don't know. You being strigoi must've done some weird shit, but I guess we'll fix it soon. We're coming to get you Rose." She said. It annoyed me that I could no longer hear the others, but I'd get over it.

"Did Dimitri agree to my condition? Or am I going to throw myself into the sun and turn to ashes?" I asked. I meant it too; if they weren't prepared to kill me I'd kill myself.

"Yes." Was all she said, and I felt her leave my head at the same time I realized I had a problem. The sun was rising and I was to far from the cabin…

Improvising, I threw myself into a pile of snow and started digging down, burying myself as I went. I kept going down until everything above me was black, and no light was coming through.

Shit…what now? I stayed buried in snow until the sun went away again? Yeah that sounded real fun…plus the others would think I ran away from them, they'd think I killed myself.

Or I could just tell them.

Slipping back into Lissa's head, I found myself facing my cabin.

"I'm not in there," I told her, and she frowned.

"Where are you then? The suns coming out, you'll die." The emotions flowing through her were scared and annoyed.

"I went after that bear, remember? I wouldn't have made it back in time, so I'm in the snow."

"You're in the snow?" she asked incredulously. "What the hell?"

"I dug down into the snow so the light couldn't get me. Follow the blood trail from the cottage; you should be able to find me. I'll try and direct you, bring something for me to hide under as well please..." I felt like a coward hiding from the sun, but what more could I do?

Dimitri was currently crouched down over the bloodied up snow that I'd been lying in before I smelt that bear, and he could see a few blood foot prints in the snow. He didn't need to be told how to find me, he just started walking after the prints.

It took about an hour for them to find the snow pile I was hiding under, which surprised me a little seeing as it look me less the five minutes to get there. They dropped a large black sheet over the top of the blood patch.

"A sheet is the cover from the sun you came up with?" I mumbled, clawing my way back to the surface.

"Get over it," Dimitri chuckled.

When the smell drifted to me I froze, locking my muscles in place. Damn it…they smelt so _good_... there's that annoying little question again: can I handle this? Judging by the smell, no. Jesus, I just wanted to jump up in the sun and feed so badly.

"Get out of here!" I demanded, trying with all my might to force myself back down into my hole.

I shuddered as I saw a hand sifting through the snow, searching for me. Again, I tried to force myself back into the hole, but my body wanted to jump them, my mind wasn't strong enough to back down. More hand started searching for me, and they all found me at the same time.

I flinched a little at the warmth of their skin, but other then that I didn't move.


	15. Chapter 15

**Yay, i'm glad you agreed with my little twilight reference, i couldn't think of anything else and i wasn't sure if that was going to sit well with everyone, so its good to know that i didn't upset you.**

**WARNING: this chapters a bit...weird... (consider yourselves warned)**

**Answers:  
****1)This chapter explains why Christian was having a cry.  
2)'m sick of seperating Roza and Dimka too :(  
3)Rose will still be more Moroi then dhampire, don't worry.  
4)This chapter also explains the fate of the Juniors and Seniors, unfortuneately i couldn't kill them off because then Christian would have gotten in a lot of truble... as for Rose going strigoi, that's just the norm for peopel liek her. If Alina was killed ahead of her time, she would also turn strigoi.  
**

**Alright, enjoy! xxx :)**

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**ALINA POV**

I felt her flinch under my hands, but she didn't move. I started trying to bring her back, but it was difficult when I couldn't press against her heart. It helped that Lissa and Adrian were there helping though, so it didn't surprise when she started heating up.

That was quick.

Was she better? Or was she just heating up? I couldn't tell when I couldn't see her.

"R-Rose?" Lissa's voice trembled. We didn't pull back until we ran out of energy, praying that it had worked.

Moments later she started gasping for air, and Dimitri was flinging snow everywhere trying to pull her out.

Well…she looked normal. Lovely tan skin, deep brown eyes, wavy brown hair…there was life in her now. She was back…oh god, she was finally back!

"Roza!" Dimitri cried, locking his arms around her limp body. "Roza you're back!" he didn't bother hiding his emotions, none of us did. Including Christian…

**CHRISTIAN POV**

"Roza!" Dimitri said, scooping Rose up in a hug.. "Roza you're back!" He was too overjoyed to see her alive and well to give a shit about the tears flowing freely down his cheeks, and so was I.

Lissa peered up at me, seeing the tears on her cheeks mimicked on mine. She wasn't just crying with happiness though, she was crying in sorrow as well.

I worked out why I was so jealous the last time I saw Rose. I wasn't jealous of Rose so to speak… I was jealous of Belikov. No matter how many times I tried to convince myself it was just a phase I couldn't. I couldn't get her out of my head, and I refused to accept that Hathaway was his.

Yeah, I had a minor crush on Rose, and Lissa worked it out accidently.

She didn't know what to do, and neither did I. I mean it's not like I was in love with her or anything, I still loved Lissa with almost all of my heart… but she was there to. I hated it almost as much as she did.

She didn't leave me for which I was grateful, but it hurt me so much to see her hurting inside, and to know that I was the cause of that pain. Glaring at Rose now I found no affection, just a bit of unjustified rage.

How could she do that to me? How could she make me do that to Lissa? Why wouldn't it stop? Damn it, why did it have to be her of all people?

I had a wife, and we'd been planning kids. I didn't need to have little insignificant feelings for the love of my lives best friend, it was idiotic. I must have been secretly masochistic or something, my mind was trying to convince me that I liked Rose so that it could war with itself, hurting both me and Lissa in the running time.

But how did it happen? How could I fall for someone like Rose? She was the bitchiest person I knew, I used to hate her, she tried to keep Lissa away from me. All we ever do is argue and fight, so how could I have deluded myself into thinking that I had any sort of affectionate feeling for her? I couldn't have, I must have been confusing her with Lissa…

Maybe it was the bond. Maybe because Lissa and Rose were both connected by the bond, that it caused people to feel the same about them. Or maybe it was another new thing, like the seeing ghosts and feelings strigoi.

Maybe Dimitri had secret feelings for Lissa, too. Looking at him wrapped around Rose the way he was I highly doubted that.

They weren't really strong feelings… more like friends. In a way, Rose was my best friend. Other then Lissa she was one of the only people I felt open with. Maybe that's all it was…I mean Lissa loves Rose as her best friend, so maybe I loved Rose like a best friend too.

I smiled at that. I liked that idea, having Rose as a best friend. Sure, I'd never be her best friend cause she had Lissa, but my feelings suddenly all made sense. Lissa had gotten pissed off and gone all evil when people picked on Rose, and so had I when those little Moroi brats killed her…

That was another question.

If Rose was buried alive, why did she turn strigoi?

"Hey Rose," Mia said, catching her attention before I could. "I thought you died…why did you turn strigoi?" she frowned in confusion, and so did Rose.

"Err…" she mumbled, still thinking. "To be honest I don't have the slightest clue." Rose's face fell accusing. "Get out of the sun," she demanded, throwing the black sheet we got for her at us.

"Maybe because you were more Moroi…" Mia mumbled, still thinking about the strigoi topic.

"Moroi don't go strigoi when they die, Mia." Rose snorted. "Oh…" Rose's face fell a little bit. "I'll be all dhampire again now, won't I?" she pursed her lips and pushed back from Dimitri a little, giving herself some distance from all of us. When she decided she was a safe distance, she set a tree on fire and grinned. "I guess not!" she clapped her hands and came back to us all, frowning again. "They're going to make me extend my teaching contract thing, aren't they?" she asked Dimitri.

He chuckled and nodded. "Kirova wants you at the school, she thinks the strigoi are going to come back and she knows they don't stand a chance if you're there. The queen wants you at the royal court, too." He ruffled up her hair and kissed her again before throwing his arm over her shoulder. "We should go," he announced, heading back in the direction of the minibus with us all trailing behind them.

It took me a moment to realize that those feelings of jealousy and hatred I felt when I saw Dimitri and her together had totally vanished. I smiled and wrapped an arm around Lissa, giving her the good news.

She laughed, but tried to disguise it as a cough. "So… you think you thought you liked Rose because she's like your best friend?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

I nodded, a little embarrassed. "Well… I didn't know what it was like to care about someone to that extent, the only other love I knew was you," I kissed her on the cheek. "So I jumped to conclusions by accident. They scared me, too…" I mumbled when she started laughing again.

"So you decided you had to put us both through all of the stress of having you like my best friend, just to work out now that you love her as a friend." She giggled. "I swear that's one of the most masochistic things I've ever heard or seen." She sighed and leaned her head against my shoulder. "It's such a relief, though… I mean I really thought…" she trailed off, a tear rolling down her cheek.

I was quick to swipe that tear, flicking it off into the snow. "_Never_." I stated. "Not for one second did the feelings I was feeling for Rose compare to a fraction of what I feel for you, Liss."

She knocked me into the snow and crushed her lips to mine. The kiss was relieved and urgent, but the joy spilling through was the dominant emotion.

**ROSE POV**

I was snuggled up with Dimitri, walking back to the minibus when we heard them hit the snow. Lissa all but tackled Christian into a snow bank, and they were getting over PG while they ate each others faces…

"Ehem," I cleared my throat, trying to get their attention. "We sort of need to get you lot out of the sun… so if you could save that for when we get back to the academy…" no luck. "Okay, save it for the minibus?" still no luck. "I'm gonna come over there and drag you both back by the hair if you don't hurry the fuck up." There we go. They both stood up, laughing.

"Six months as a strigoi and you didn't change at all," Lissa said, skipping up next to me with Christian's hand in hers. "I'm glad."

***

Getting back to the minibus took a while, because we stopped for a snowball fight. It wasn't much of a fight, though. Everyone teamed up on me and Dimitri, and when we fought back it turned into a snow ball pelting. They surrendered after they were buried in snow. Waiting in the minibus was my mother, two random guardians and the sleeping guy. My mother was glaring at the sleeping guy with pissed-off but somewhat grateful eyes.

"Who's he?" I asked her, nodding my head towards to sleeping guy.

"That is Ibrahim." She muttered

I'd heard that name before… I gasped, recalling that conversation I had with the queen a while ago when she was accusing me of being in a relationship with Adrian. "That's my _dad_?" my eyes were wide as I examined the sleepy man. He looked about thirty, but he'd have to be older then that. I chuckled. "I was right, he does have wicked cool hair." I shook my head, coming back to the present situation. "What's he doing here? Does he want to try and sucker me n to be his guardian too?"

Janine laughed a little before answering. "He heard about you now being more Moroi then dhampire. He wants you to live with him, as a Moroi." She shrugged and turned to me. "I told him he was nuts if he thought he could drag you away from being a guardian, but if you want to…" she trailed off towards the end.

I glared him down. Oh sure, now that I'm Moroi he shows up. But when I'm a dhampire he doesn't even exist. "I believe _insane_ is a slight understatement." I muttered, fiddling with Lissa's _choketi_. "I could never abandon the people I was born to protect, that's idiotic."

"It's no longer your duty," a gruff voice announced, followed by a yawn. Looking up, I saw Ibrahim stretching out. "What you need to do now is have children and raise them as Moroi. Our family is in need."

I could have choked on the hysterical laughs flooding my throat. "_Our_ family? Don't you mean _your_ family? As far as I'm concerned you're not my father, not in the ways that matter." I tried stifling some more of the laughter bubbling in my throat. "You don't care about me, you never did. You're just another arrogant Moroi guy that thinks he owns the world." I leant in right next to his head, startling him. "You own, _nothing._" I fell back into my chair with my arms crossed, still glaring my fraud of a father down.

"I told you she wouldn't listen." One of the guardian's at the back of the bus said. "You shouldn't have wasted all of this time." He sighed, moving to the seat beside me. "Hello Rose," he stuck his hand out for me to shake it with a cheesy smile on his face.

I glanced up in the rearview mirror to see Dimitri glaring him down. Turning back to the guardian, I smiled and shook his hand. "Who are you?" I asked, examining him thoroughly. He didn't look like a guardian… but he was wearing one of those black robes most of the guardian's wore when they didn't need to be in disguise. This guy looked pretty Moroi.

He smirked, noticing my examination. "Robert," he pulled off the robe and tossed it aside. He was dressed casually, but the items looked rather expensive. "Your brother."

"My what?" I arched an eyebrow, examining him again. It made sense; I guess… he had the awesome hair.

"Your brother, sort of." He confirmed his last sentence.

"Sorry," I smiled politely. "I don't have a brother, don't want one either." I heard Janine chuckle from behind me. She was enjoying this, me disowning my father and half brother.

"Sister, I am like you. We share the same parents, and now the same talents." He said, sounding like some weird inbred stalker guy. "Yes, Janine is my mother and Ibrahim is my father. But like your friend over there, I was born more Moroi then dhampire, so I stayed with Ibrahim." He smirked, taking in my-oh-this-is-bullshit expression. "Rose, you are my twin."

I froze, my mouth gaping wide. Slowly turning, I found myself facing a very annoyed Janine Hathaway. "I'm a _twin_ and you never _told_ me?" I demanded, my voice incredulous. It didn't seem possible.

"_He's_ the one who never told _me_!" she said, glaring at Ibrahim before looking back to me. "I feinted right after you were born, Rose. Apparently Robert was born right after you were. I never knew, because he never told me. Neither did the doctors."

I shrugged, trying to blow it all off. Crossing my arms I started talking about how lame being strigoi was with Lissa and Mia. I didn't miss my mother's silent laughter or Robert's eyes staring at me with disbelief.

"Don't pretend you don't care." Robert demanded, trying to keep his voice calm.

Smirking up at him, I said "If you didn't notice, this is me not caring." I turned back to Mia and started talking about training my magic.

I managed to ignore them for most of the trip, every now and then Robert would punch something or let out some sort sound to show he was very annoyed with us all. God, he was so selfish. Just before we got back to the academy, he started talking about me training him.

"Hah!" I scoffed, trying to squeeze some air down to my lungs. "I think you need a straight-jacket, buddy."

"It's already been arranged…" Dimitri butted in the conversation, causing my cackles to come to an abrupt halt. "Kirova believes he has talent, and she likes your teaching methods. He continued, trying to justify this bullshit.

"I'm already training Christian!" I complained, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Not to mention the other students!" something came back to me… the Moroi. "Speaking of students, and my unstable temper… is it safe for those Moroi kids to have me here?" just wait until I find out who they were… they're all as good as dead.

"Those students were all expelled and sent to another academy." Dimitri said quickly. "we traded them for others from the academy they were sent too, they lost the opportunity to learn how to defend themselves, and the new students have already begun learning, so it won't be as difficult for you to teach them."

I sighed. Damn… "They were punished though, right?" I asked. Hopefully someone tormented them… everyone fell quiet and all conversation stopped. "No-one punished them?" I scoffed, thumping my foot against the floor. "Why the hell not?"

Christian cleared his throat. "They were punished… harshly." His tone was implying violence.

"What'd they get?" I asked.

They all fell silent briefly before Adrian started laughing a little. "Christian lost his temper and showed them all some pretty wicked offensive magic."

It took that a moment to sink in, but when it did I gaped. "You attacked students with fire?" I demanded, scowling at him. "Well done I guess…" I mumbled, thinking back to the images of me smashing a few of them myself. "Bit harsh, but it works for me." They all stared at me in silent amazement, like they expected something better from me.

Normally, yes, I would have been furious with Christian for harming other Moroi, but it actually seemed the fit punishment right now. Dimitri's gaze wasn't disapproving or disbelieving, it was understanding. He too knew what it was like to live like a strigoi, so he knew how I felt.

Lissa nodded at me, understanding sinking in. "I was wrong, you have changed." She smiled a little, the emotions coming out of her a little worried.

The bus came to a stop and we all filed out. It was day time for the vampires, so it was pleasant to see that there wasn't anyone waiting to jump on us the instant we got back inside, unlike every other time I get back from one of these mishaps.

I wonder why it always had to be _me_.

No-one else lost their lovers to strigoism and had to go hunt them down in order to save them. No body's ever had to give themselves up to a bunch of weirdo strigoi as a house pet in order to keep her school safe. No-one was else was forced to drink blood to turn more Moroi then dhampire. No body's ever 'died' then turned strigoi when they were buried alive.

So why is it always me? Why did I have to be the unlucky one who gets torn away from what she loved so dearly, simply because it was her duty to use herself as protection for others? None of the other novices or guardians ever had to do anything like I've had to.

Why should I be the only one to duffer such a fate?

"Roza, what's wrong?" Dimitri asked, brushing away the tears that had mysteriously appeared on my face. "Are you hurt?" his voice was concerned.

Why the hell was I crying? I wasn't sad or in any sort of pain. I hadn't poked myself in the eye, and there was nothing in them. They weren't happy tears, these were bitter and sour. Gritting my teeth, I found the answer.

They were tears of rage.

"No." I said curtly, rushing ahead to Kirova's office. I didn't knock; I just stormed straight through the doors of her office. "I _refuse_ to teach Robert." I announced, thumping a fist on her desk and leaning forward over the top.

"Okay, we'll extend your contract then." She said, pulling out the envelope of sheets I'd signed.

"No." I said, pulling the envelope out of her hands. "I'm leaving; I don't give a shit anymore. I'm sick of it, now I'm going to do what _I_ think is right." I set the envelope on fire and dumped it in the trash can as I stormed off towards my room.

Students and guardians alike moved aside, avoiding me at all costs. I opened the door to find Dimitri sitting on the floor with a small photo album; he looked up when I came in.

"What's wrong?" he jumped up to try and comfort me, and I could both feel and see his hurt when I pushed him away. I pushed Dimitri away… "Roza…" he dropped his hand and took a few steps back.

"Dimitri, oh I'm so sorry I don't know what… why are you looking at me like that?" he was staring at me, shock and fear pasted to his face. what the hell? He started backing away towards the door, never taking his eyes off of me. Then he froze, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "What is it? Dimitri what's wrong?" I was getting worried now.

Confusion swept over his face. "Your eyes…" he murmured, risking two small steps in my direction. "Your eyes are red."

"Wh… What?" I scoffed, rushing over to the mirror. He was right, my eyes were glowing crimson. "But…" opening my mouth, I quickly checked for fangs. Sighing in relief I snapped my mouth shut, there were no fangs. "What the hell is going on here?" I demanded, punching the mirror.

I heard the door open, and when I turned around Dimitri was gone… did he run away from me? No… Dimitri wouldn't do that even if I was strigoi… and I clearly _wasn't_, because I wasn't craving blood. But why did he leave? Why would he leave me alone when I was so scared?

Crumbling to the ground I let the tears flow from my eyes while the dry sobs ripped up my throat.

**DIMITRI POV**

She almost knocked the door down when she entered the room, fury and depression flashing everywhere all over her face. She was pissed-off at someone, really pissed off.

"What's wrong?" I jumped up to try and comfort her, but she put her arms against my chest and pushed me back. "Roza…" my voice displayed a minor part of the hrut I felt as my hands dropped back to my sides. Looking at her, I saw her eyes slowly changing…getting lighter and pinker… right up until they were glowing red.

"Dimitri, oh I'm so sorry I don't know what… why are you looking at me like that?" I was staring at me, feeling nothing but shock and fear. I started slowly backing away towards the door, never taking my eyes off of hers. Then I froze, shaking my head and rubbing my eyes. What was I doing? Strigoi or not that was Rose, and she wouldn't try to hurt me, that was the girl I loved. "What is it? Dimitri what's wrong?" she was growing anxious.

Confusion swept over me. How could she not know she was strigoi? "Your eyes…" he murmured, taking two small cautious steps in her direction. "Your eyes are red."

"Wh… What?" she scoffed, rushing over to the mirror. She sat there staring at herself in the mirror. "But…" She opened her mouth and ran a finger along her teeth, checking for fangs. Sighing in relief she snapped her mouth shut, there were no fangs. "What the hell is going on here?" She demanded, taking a swing at the mirror.

I took another step towards her when I heard a low breath behind me, but before I could react I was snatched through the door but an unfamiliar man. I punched him in the nose, sending him flying backwards with blood flowing freely down his face. He was Moroi, and he suddenly looked very familiar.

"Robert?" I asked, taking up an offensive stance, ready for the next attack if he dare try. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I demanded, stepping towards him.

"That hurt, you know." He muttered, pressing a hand to his face and healing himself. He really was like Rose. Flames erupted from his hands as he started walking back over too me. "I don't think my sister-" he was obviously going to say something about Rose, but when she smashed the door down with flames on her hands, he stopped short.

**ROSE POV**

I heard a loud cracking noise, as if someone or something just smashed into something very hard, and then I smelt fresh blood. It wasn't appealing the way it would have been if I were still strigoi, it smelt… bad… like, evil sort of bad.

Shutting up, I listened hard to what was going on in the hallway outside.

"Robert." Dimitri's sweet voice echoed through the hall. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, and I heard some footsteps.

"That hurt, you know." Robert muttered, and then there was a familiar aura of life spilling out, followed by flames… he was fighting Dimitri… Dimitri didn't run away, Robert musthave snatched him.

"I don't think my sister-" Robert started, but he stopped short when I kicked the door down with flames burning on my hands. "Oh bother." He sighed, letting his flames drop. "It's too late then, you're already permanent."

I growled at him, taking a step forward so that I was in between him and Dimitri. "What do you want?" I asked, taking a step back so that Dimitri was pressed against the wall.

Robert's eyes widened briefly before he started laughing. "How foolish of you!" he crowed. "First you go and get pissed off," he was still laughing, but he was looking at me now. "Your eyes won't go normal again, you know." He sighed. "You just had to go and get yourself pregnant, didn't you?"

I faltered for a moment. "Say what?" I snorted, trying to rub off the shock. "I'm not pregnant, idiot." He chuckled a low chuckle and took a step towards me with his hand out stretched. "Get away from us." I hissed, knocking Dimitri through the open hallway and pulling the door up so he was now locked in the room.

"You _are_ pregnant sister, and you know you are." He stated, smiling in a creepy sweet sort of way. "Don't object. Maybe you don't know it yet, but you'll see. Place a hand on your stomach, you'll see." He nodded towards me.

Glaring furiously at him, I did as he said, dropping the flames on my right hand. "No," he objected. "Leave the flame or you won't feel the child."

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to burn myself?" I scoffed, lighting my hand back up. I bet this would have looked so cool to an outsider…

"It won't burn you," he smiled and threw a ball of fire at me. I didn't have time to move, but when it hit me… it didn't hurt, it just burnt a hole in my shirt, revealing my stomach. "See." He smirked a little smugly at the shocked expression I was wearing.

Glowering at him, I lightly placed a flaming hand on my stomach… my stomach that was so cold. And it responded, something kicked me. "How…" I murmured, totally absorbed in the little nudges coming from inside of me.

Robert laughed. "Well, when two people love each other very much, they sometimes decide too-"

"I know _how_ but… how did you know that by looking at me? And what the fuck were you doing to Dimitri?" I'd almost forgotten that he was the bad guy here.

He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "We're twins, remember? I can sense you, and I could sense the kids. You can sense me, too. You just don't now it yet." He smiled about something. "I was coming to warn you about losing your temper, about the eyes. No, you aren't strigoi, it's just the eyes. They change color with mood. And Dimitri… I didn't want him knowing all of our secrets, so I was trying to get rid of him for a moment. Then he hit me, I got a little mad…" he shrugged.

"My eyes do _what_?" I scoffed, dropping my hands and the flames. "And what do you mean _sense_ me? Like… like I can sense Lissa?" I asked.

"They change with your mood. So far I've worked out they go red when you're pissed, blue when you're sad, pink when… when you're having fun with Dimitri, gold when your happy, and orange when your stressed. I've been studying people like us." He grinned at my expression, which was missed between interest, horror and disbelief. "Yes, like you sense Lissa, except it's stronger. I could concentrate on you, and appear beside you. It's pretty cool, I tried it once while you were sleeping."

What the hell was he going on about… "I've seen twins before, and they don't do freaky shit like that."

"There have never been twins like us before, most of us are born of mixed parents, but us being twins meant that I actually sucked most of the Moroi out of you when we were still in Janine, which is why I was born like this. You were a time bomb, waiting to change. The blood just sped up the process a bit." He was talking clearly and confidently, like he'd been waiting for this day for a very long time.

I laughed. "I get it now, I'm different." Thinking back to the cause of my earlier explosion I finally had my answer. "I guess that's why it's _me_, then. Isn't it? That's why the bad things follow me around, why the strigoi have such an interest in me?" it all made sense now…

He nodded, grinning widely. "I'm so happy that you understand, sister."

"Why do you keep calling me sister all the time? Kind of creepy."

"Saying the word brings you closer to me. Justas you should refer to me as brother, and then you'll be able to understand me better. We can communicate with each other then, right now it's only I that can speak with you."

Well that makes sense. "I'm speaking with you now, what do you mean?"

_I mean mentally, sister. If you concentrate hard enough, you will be able to talk back one day. And to others of out kind._ His lips weren't moving but words were coming out.

"What the hell?" I demanded as the door rattled a little. Oh… I'd forgotten about Dimitri. "Woops," I turned around and removed the door again, allowing Dimitri to exit the room. "Sorry about that." I said, wrapping an arm around his waist, he copied the action.

"What's going on?" he asked me, glaring at Robert. "And… is it true?"

"Yes, she is pregnant with your child." Robert said, answering his question before I could.

"What about the eyes?"he asked, staring at me once more. "What the hell? Why are your eyes silver now?" Dimitri demanded.

"Ah, I new emotion for me. Thank-you sister." he pulled out a small note pad and opened his mouth, revealing a pair of fangs witch he then used to prick his finger. With his finger, he wrote something in the notepad. "When we a nervous, our eyes go silver. Fascinating, isn't it?" he closed the pad and put it back in his pocket.

I nodded. "Yeah I guess…" setting a hand on fire, I placed it back on my stomach to feel some more nudges. "We're having a baby…" I grinned, staring at Dimitri and feeling so must lust that I was afraid my eyes would…

"Your eyes just changed colour again," Dimitri pointed out. "They're pink now. Why do they keep doing that?"

I felt the blush start roasting my cheeks and wondered what colour they turned when I was embarrassed.

Dimitri frowned. "And now they're green, what's with it?"

"Yet another emotion, this is turning out quite well." Robert chimed. "Our eyes change with our moods, or more accurately would be to say they change with our emotions. Rose seems to be a very emotional person, and seeing that pink… yes, well I'll leave you too it.

"So… your eyes are going to change color all the time now?" Dimitri asked, pulling me down the hallway to his room, seeing as mine was a little… broken.

I nodded. "Put your hand here," I said, grabbing his hand and sticking it to my stomach. "Does the baby kick for you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, should it be? I mean it can't be that developed…"

"The last time we… you know, yeah well that was six months ago at least. And are you sure you can't feel it?" that meant the baby was still inside of me while I was strigoi…

"Yes I'm sure. Why?"

I frowned, setting the end of my finger on fire and pressing it to my belly close to Dimitri's and. "How about now?"

He nodded. "Why does it do that?" his face was bright and he was grinning widely.

I shrugged, laying down on his bed. "I don't know, Robert showed me. I didn't ask why it did it…" I murmured, pulling him down on the bed beside me. "I think we should try for twins…"

That's all it took for us to start pulling each others clothes off.

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	16. Chapter 16

**Okay okay, chapter 16 :] Sure, this ones probably just as weird as the last one, but i'm hoping it'll answer most of your questions.**

**Thanks for the encouraging reviews ^^ They're the only things that keep me going.**

**Answers:  
1)Naw the baby's not gonna be strigoi, i didn't like having Rose strigoi...  
2)Yes, you will find out why the baby responds to fire below. I tried getting creative with that -.^  
3)No, lol it's not possible to be pregnant and _then_** **try for twins, Rose was just trying to be sneaking about asking Dimitri to have sex with her. I think it worked.  
4)Yeah, Robert's a good guy. You'll find out about the evil further along down in this chapter.  
5)You'll see who finds out. -Pokes Robert.- Did i mention that Robert has a big mouth?  
6)Yeah, you'll find out what Dimitri thinks of the baby at the end of the chapter :)  
**

**Putting an end to my rant session, i'll leave you to the chapter,**

**Enjoy! xxx :)**

**

* * *

****ROSE POV**

Dimitri kept commenting on my eyes while we… had some fun. He liked them, and said he'd get used to it. We discussed what the baby would be called, and what sex it would probably be. _He_ thought it was going to be a girl, but _I_ thought it was going to be a boy. So we decided that if it was a boy, I would name it, and if it were a girl, he would name it.

Right now I was on my way back to Kirova's office, and I could easily say that my eyes would be green from the embarrassment right now. I'd chucked such a bitch fit before…

"Come in," she said, and when she saw me she smirked. "Robert told me everything, don't bother. Just sign here." She said, spinning a sheet of paper around so that it was facing me, then tossed me a biro.

"Sorry," I sighed, signing the paper. "I just sort of lost it."

"I know, Alina wants to see you for your lessons, go." She said, taking the paper as she jabbed a wrinkled old finger in the direction of the door.

I nodded and followed the fingers directions, exiting her door and walking down the hall.

_What? Not even a thank-you?_ His voice was joking, and it startled me at first, causing me to spin around like an idiot, searching for someone I knew wasn't there.

_Thanks_. I said, feeling stupid. He couldn't hear me yet, so there was no use in trying.

Knocking on Alina's door, I quickly sensed that Lissa was in the room with her, along with Adrian, which was normal. What I wasn't expecting was to see Robert perched on a chair, watching them all.

"Hey, Kirova said you wanted to see me…" Alina looked up, glaring at me. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked, taking a step back towards the door. Robert chuckled.

"You get pregnant and you don't tell _us_?" Lissa demanded, glaring at my eyes. "And your eyes really did change… what's green mean?" she asked Robert.

"She's embarrassed." He answered. Well, that explained how they already knew everything.

"Hey Robert, why does the baby react to fire?" I asked, closing the door and walking over to sit down with the others.

"Hmm…" he started mumbling about something. "I don't think… you won't like it." He said. "Our sort, when we have babies they come out different to everything else. Some call them demons, others fairies, and we call them kids." He smiled. "The children get their traits from their parents, and seeing as all of our kind specializes in spirit, they take up the other element, which is your case, is fire."

"So the baby reacts to fire because it likes fire?" I asked, pressing a flaming hand to my belly again and smiling. "What will it be like?"

He grinned. "You don't need to call her an it, by the way, it's a girl." Damn it… Dimitri got to name her then… oh well. "And she'll be…" he trailed off. "How do I explain? They come out looking pretty normal, but they're born dead, like a strigoi." I frowned. My baby was going to be a strigoi? "No, she won't be a strigoi. Her heart will start 24 hours after she's born, which is around the same time her hair will start flaming and the marking will appear. It's hard to say exactly, but that's the way it usually works. But you could be different, seeing as you were strigoi for most of her development. Only one month left, and you can see what she'll turn out like for yourself."

"One month?" I snorted. "I'm not even fat yet, it'd have to take more time then that."

He started laughing. "No, no. You won't get fat until a week before the birth, did you expect your pregnancy to be the same as every others? I should hope not, your baby will be special, lethal. Very lethal, which is why I'm not leaving your side until she turns five." He grimaced. "If you raise that baby wrong, she could very well wipe out half of the worlds population. You must teach her the guardian ways, or she will go bad."

I said nothing. So my baby was going to be a demon like killing machine that could turn out wrong, throw a tantrum and take out half the world. Nothing to be scared about at all now, is there? Well sure, there was… but I wasn't scared. Why not?

Robert pulled out his notepad to right another emotion down, this time confusion. "What color are they now?" I asked.

"White," Adrian said. "Your aura… it's so weird." He tilted his head to the side, glaring at my stomach. "I can see the baby's aura too, she's surrounded by fire." He said, smirking a little. "And your aura… its blood red, but there's… stars, or little silver sparkles in it. Looks pretty awesome."

I grinned. "Sweet as." Turning to Robert, I asked "How many others are there like us? And are there many babies like mine?" I was curious to see if my baby would be a loner or not.

"Not many, but there's at least a thousand or so of us spread around the globe. As for your baby, yes there are some others, but only a dozen or so. People like us… well, most of us make pretty shitty mistakes." He pursed his lips. "Remember that rage you felt before when your eyes changed for the first time?" I nodded. "Imagine having that duplicated by one hundred, and then imagine living with it everyday."

I shuddered at the memory of that night I took away the darkness from Lissa and almost beat Jesse to death, and then another issue hit me. "Hey Lissa, why don't you go insane from healing anymore? I mean sure it'd good, but how?"

She smiled. "Alina heals both me and Adrian, sort of like when you use to suck the darkness away. Except Alina's body rejects the darkness, and it disappears. I think it's pretty cool."

"Go Alina," I said, smiling but turning back to Robert. "So we get mad, and then what?" I pressed, hoping for further information on the subject.

"We do rash things, some of us turn on others and end up being killed, which turns us strigoi. Others turn strigoi, but a rare few, like me, you, and Alina, we deal with it differently, channeling the rage into something else. For you and Alina, it's training."

"What do you do to channel it?" I asked.

"I'm a black belt in many, many different martial arts. I release the same way you do, I'm not to sure there is any other way to let it out without going insane." He grinned, seeing the anticipation in my eyes. "We can not fight yet; you can't use your magic, so I would be at advantage. And I couldn't risk killing the baby."

I sighed. "Your magic can't hurt me. Spirit helps people, and fire doesn't burn anymore." I pursed me lips. "But I'm not risking her either."

There was a knock on the door, and then Christian, Mia and Dimitri walked in. I wasn't expecting Dimitri, but I wasn't objecting to anything.

The look in Adrian's eyes when he spotted Mia seemed to flick a switch off in my head. Adrian had the hots for Mia… ohhh _snap_! That was great.

A few moments later there was another knock on the door, and Tamika, Eddie, and Nikki walked through the door. Before anyone could react I was flying across the room at Nikki, arms spread wide, ready for a hug.

"Oh my god it's been so long since I saw you!" I said, almost crushing her bones.

"Rose! Can't… Let go!" she choked out, patting my back a little.

"Oh shit, sorry. Little over excited." Excited… new emotion. I turned towards Robert to display my eyes. "What color now?" I asked.

He grinned at me, happy to see that I was as enthusiastic for further information as he was. "Purple." He said as he wrote it down in his notepad. When he looked back up, his eyes were a shimmering gold.

I laughed, and then stopped. "Hey, if Alina's like us, why don't her eyes change color?" I frowned, looking down at Alina to see my face mimicked.

"She isn't 16 yet, it's a coming of age puberty sort of thing." He said simply, turning towards her. "When do you turn 16, cousin?"

It startled me to hear him call her cousin, but it didn't surprise anyone else. Oh… I forgot, this guy was raised by Moroi. "Next week." She said happily.

"Why don't we get taught about people like us? Do we have names? I mean we know about strigoi, Moroi and dhampire's, but what are we?" I asked. We could make up our own race…

Robert frowned, finally being asked a question he didn't have an answer for. "I… don't… know…" he most certainly wasn't happy about, and the stress turned his eyes orange immediately. "I guess you're right… we can make up our own name." he said, his eyes turning purple… excited? Cool.

"Sweet!" Alina chimed. "What should we call ourselves? Super vampires?" She was pretty happy about all this, and I was half expecting her eyes to turn gold.

"It needs to have a meaning…" Robert said.

"Something Russian, German, Or Romanian based, you know, to make it sound like a few teenagers didn't just make it up." I said.

"I'll do some research then," Robert said, standing up and heading fro the door.

"Make sure it sounds cool!" me and Alina both demanded as the door closed behind him.

"Now that," Adrian said, ending the silence. "Was a very weird conversation." We all started laughing and discussing the baby after that.

I filled Dimitri in on how he was right and that the baby was being a girl, and he said he already had a name for her. I liked the name he picked, so I didn't mind. He called her Kristin; it was one of his sisters names that had passed away. He showed more worry about the description of what she would be then I did.

He didn't like the fact that people thought it fit to give a baby the label of 'demon', but he didn't mind the label 'fairy' at all. He didn't like the fact that she'd be born strigoi, but he was just as excited as I was to see how she turned out after her heart started.

The next day I didn't have to work, but he did. And so did everyone else, apparently. Lissa and Adrian got paid to help out around the clinic, and Mia was a gardener. Alina had school and so the Tamika, and Eddie and Nikki were hovering over classes the same way Dimitri would be. So that left me with Robert, and right now we were in the library, looking up the make believe names for different races of vampires that humans made up.

"What if we combine to different races to create a title? I want something with warrior in it, so it's got to be something Brujah." I announced, picking out my half of our new label.

He nodded. "Yeah that's cool I guess. Now we can pick between… Seducing, Hunting, Manipulating, Infiltrating, and magical warriors." He said, writing each of them down in his little notepad. "Think we should wait for Alina before we decide? We could look up some other things while we wait."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll go grab some more books." I said, standing up to go find some more books on pretend vampires. When I got to the section we'd found the other books, I laughed to see that the entire area was cleared out. There weren't many books on them, and me and Robert already had them all.

"Do we have to wait for Alina?" he's voice was whiny, which was new for him. But his eyes were shining gold, saying that he was happy about something.

"I guess not…" I said, taking my seat beside him once more. "Did you pick out your name, then?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep. Malkavian, it means manipulator. Our breed will go down as Malkavian Brujah, forever living at the top of the vampire world." He grinned sarcastically, his eyes flashing an even brighter gold. He was really happy about this.

"Why do you write everything down about us?" I asked him.

He blinked, surprised about my question. "Quick, what color are my eyes?" he asked, preparing his pen for writing.

"Amber."

"Thanks," he wrote it down then closed the pad, turning back to me. "I want to help the future generations of our sort; I want to give them a history." He said simply, smiling a little. "People here thought Alina was just a freak, they didn't know that there were more of us. And they didn't know because no-one told them. So I'm documenting our lives as history, which is why I'm going to stick to you like glue while Kristin's being raised. I'm going to document her every breath if I have too. I have studied one other like her, but his parents decided I was too weird to be near there baby, and so they sent me away.

"Moroi and dhampire's have a background, so do strigoi and humans. But us? We're just the outcast, the unknowns. I'm going to change all that, I'm going to give us a background. Me, you, Alina, and Kirstin are going to be in the world for a very, very long time. So we'll be able to document almost everything. That's also the reason Ibrahim was trying to convince you to come live with us, because he knew I would leave if you didn't come."

Talk about a speech… I just sat there speechless, absorbing everything he said. One thing in particular caught my interest. "What do you mean we're all going to be here for a very, very long time?"

"Well, so far the average lifespan for our kind is 250 years, I've met a few 300 year olds, but most of the people I knew were about 200, so I rounded up and down to settle at 250, we can fix it if we need to."

I gasped. "Say what? But…" but? But what? "But Dimitri… what about Dimitri, he won't live for that long. I can't live that long… I don't want too." I've gone through enough shit to last me an average lifetime in 19 years, I sure as hell didn't need another 230 years added to that.

"Dimitri… no he won't, unless he's like us." He said, pursing his lips.

I started shaking my head. "No. No I'm going to die with Dimitri when we both get old; I can't live that long, I can't live when he's dead. I'll… I'll… can't we change him? Make him one of us?" I was very desperate, and I guessed my eyes changed color seeing as Robert pulled out his notepad again.

"So desperate is black… and I don't know how to change him into one of us, I don't think that's possible."

"I won't live without him, not anymore. I can handle losing him for a few months, but I can't take years. No, I… I was changed to this, I was like him, remember? I changed, so he can change. I… blood, he can start drinking blood. Then he'll be with me, we can be together with Kirstin for that long, maybe longer. But not alone… I won't live without him." now I just had to convince Dimitri that drinking Moroi blood was the right thing to do, as long as no-one had to die for it… maybe Lissa…or Adrian… Christian? What about Mia… one of them would help, maybe they would take turns. They'd help me, I knew they would.

"But you were born with it in your blood; you would have changed no matter what. Sure, it's possible, but don't get your hopes up, Rose." Robert was clearing trying to soothe me, to reassure me. It wasn't working; I was already set on track.

"Determination is tangerine…" he mumbled, writing down another emotion.

We spent the rest of the day trying to bring out emotions in each other, but my emotions wouldn't budge. My eyes were constantly flicking from blue to tangerine, sad at the thought of Dimitri dying without me, but determined to make sure he didn't.

The entire time I was just waiting for the day to end so I could group everyone up and talk to them about it. I'd have better luck convincing Dimitri to drink Moroi blood if he had the volunteer's supporting him.

The instant it hit 4 I was looking for Dimitri while Robert got the others gathered in Lissa's room. When I found Dimitri I started explaining to him that I and Kirstin were going to live for a very, very long time. He was only the littlest bit upset about this, but he actually seemed happy to hear that I'd be in the world for that long. When I told him that he had to stay with me, he was skeptical, anticipating that I was going to make him do something unpleasant to do so, but I was sure he thought I was going to try and make him go strigoi… that was plan B.

_They're willing to help_. Robert said to me through that weird mental twin bonding thing we had. I was still working on that, along with everything else…

_Good_. I said, hoping he heard me.

_You did it!_ He cheered, telling me that he got my message.

Cool, one skill down, only… oh, say 100 left. When we went through the door we found everyone sitting down discussing ways to convince Dimitri to go with the flow.

"Go with what flow?" He asked Mia, who had just made a statement about how she didn't think he'd 'go with the flow'

"Err… Rose?" She said.

"Right." I said, sitting Dimitri down on the bed while I joined the others on the floor. "Remember how I got like this?" he nodded. "Yes… well see I've decided that I can't live for 250 years if you aren't living with me… so we're going to change you."

"You want me to go strigoi?" he asked skeptically, crossing his legs.

"No, no, no!" we all chanted, shaking our heads in unison.

"The Moroi… as in Mia, Adrian, Lissa, and Christian, are going to give you blood… we're going to make you like me, so we can live together." I said, cutting through to the point.

He blinked twice, arching an eyebrow at me. "You're going to make me drink _blood_?" he scoffed.

I nodded. "Well… not make, but… I need you too Dimitri, don't make me live without you…" I begged. "And it really doesn't taste that bad," I added in, thinking back to the strangling satisfying taste of blood I sampled everyday for a month.

"Roza…" he said, frowning. "Roza you know I love you, and that I'd want to spend every minute of forever with you… but… I can't just start drinking blood…"

"But… you have too." My voice was desperate, and I saw Robert pull out his notepad to write another emotion down.

He sat perfectly still staring into my eyes without saying a word. He was searching for something, and I was grateful for whatever he found. "Okay." He said, nodding his head. "For how long?" he asked.

"It took a month for me… but I had the capacity already. It might take longer for you… I'll get Dr. Olendzki to keep a weekly checkup on you, he can trace the changes." Sure, I was making this all up on the spot, but it made enough sense. "We'll keep you drinking twice a day, to wine glasses full like I did. When you can feel and use the magic you can stop, or when your eyes start flipping color's." I couldn't believe that he was agreeing to this, and part of me regretted doing it… very small insignificant part of me at that.

"Starting when?" he asked, pursing his lips.

I pursed my lips too. "As soon as we can work out how to get the blood out of them and into the cup…" I muttered. "Maybe they could suck it out and spit…" they all looked at me with expression that questioned my sanity. "Or we could… needles?" I suggested.

"Needles… I don't mind if someone sucks the blood out of me for him, but I won't let you get me with a needle." Mia stated.

"I could…" I started, thinking of more options. "You could make a cut deep enough to fill a cup, then me or Alina could heal it." Suggestion number three… it wasn't to bad, but it did sound pretty emo.

"That's actually a good idea," Lissa said. Christian, myself, and Dimitri stared her down, thinking back to when the depression was too much for her and she'd slit her wrists to release 'it'. "I didn't mean it like _that_. I just think that's an easy safe method." She said, trying to clear her name.

I chuckled. "Well, we'll figure it out tomorrow morning, everyone meet back here. You'll have to take your pick, and if you choose needle, you'll have to find a needle. And we can't let anyone know about this… got it?" they all nodded while Dimitri grimaced. I felt a twinge of guilt once more for putting him though this, but I couldn't bare the thought of living two and a half centuries without him, so living though it wasn't an option.

"Christian, Robert, training time. Everyone else I suggest you get some rest. You can decide who's going to give first tomorrow." I almost forgot… "By the way, thank-you all so much for letting us do this. It means so much to me, I swear."

I left the room with the other two, heading off towards the oval. Christian was already running laps, but Robert was sitting cross-legged on the ground watching him with amused eyes.

"Why aren't you running?" I asked him when I got close enough.

"Because you aren't training me sister, I'm training you." He said, standing up. "You're still new to Spirit and Fire, you need to learn control, for the flame. And there are heaps of things for you to learn about Spirit. We'll begin with control first though, because that's what you'll need the most."

I nodded. "How many laps has he done?" I asked, nodding my head at Christian.

"Four, he's doing fifteen." He said, laughing a little. "I can't believe how much that boy respects you." He muttered, staring out at Christian. "He'd never admit it, but you're his best friend." He chuckled. "He thought he was falling in love with you at first, scared the shit out of the poor kid. But he worked out he loved you as a friend, not a lover." I stared at him, absolutely stunned. "Stunned is Celadon. Interesting color…" he murmured, writing it down in his notepad.

I heard a gasp from behind me, and turned around stiffly to see three senior novices staring at me like they were looking at a ghost. "What are you lookin' at?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.

They started whispering between one another, but all I could pickup from the distance between us was that apparently no of the students here knew I was back. How odd…

"I heard you died…" the small blonde guy of the three said.

"People saw your body and everything… the Moroi, they killed you." The other blonde guysaid, backing away slightly.

The brunette guy on the other the other hand was grinning, pacing towards me. "I knew a few Moroi couldn't kill you guardian Hathaway. But what happened? I mean I saw the picture of your body and everything. They told us you died, so what happened?" he asked, totally unafraid. "What's with your eyes?"

"Confusion," Robert murmured. "I don't know what color that is. I'll just call it orange as well…" he muttered, scribbling some more details down in his book.

"Who told you I was dead?" I demanded, ignoring the question about my eyes.

"Err," he scratched the back of his head. "Kirova and the other guardian's, and the queen came to your funeral, so did your dad, and that guy." He pointed at Robert. "Who's he?" he asked.

"Err… my brother." I mumbled, thinking about why they would say that I died. Didn't any of the students see me run across campus as a strigoi? "Did anyone mention anything about me turning strigoi?" I asked, interrupting whatever he was asking about Robert being my brother.

He's eyes widened. "They told us that wasn't you!" he scoffed, glaring at me. "If you were strigoi, why are you here now?" his glare was accusing and inspecting.

"I didn't turn strigoi." I lied smoothly. "I was just seeing if any rumor's spread. That's what usually happens around here. Now get back to your dorm," I shooed him off, turning back to Robert. "Why would they tell them I died?" I asked him, frowning.

"For your honor," he said truthfully. "They didn't think you'd like students saying things about you someone purposely going strigoi, so they tried to defend you." He sighed. "Okay, now we really need to work on your control."

We finished off the training session Justas the sun was rising, simply because Christian couldn't be out in the sun and my brain was going to explode from all the pressure of paying attention to a 'teacher' of any sorts.

While Christian ran laps me and Robert practiced controlling flames by having me surround his body in fire without touching him, I didn't get it perfect, but I did alright. When Christian was finished, I let him and Robert attempt to attack me with physical combat. I expected Robert to manage at least one blow, seeing as he was a black belt in what not. But he didn't, not one little hit.

After I beat them both up they started helping me with the fire control thing again, taking extra time to explain. I decided they were trying to use up what time we had so I didn't have another chance to beat them up.

Heading back to Dimitri's and my room, I ran into a very drunk Adrian.

"Hey Rose!" he said, falling sideways into a wall, causing himself to drop the bottle of vodka he was gripping. He looked down at it, and just stared at it. Then he looked up at me and pointed down with a puppy-dog cute sad look in his eye. "It bwoke!" he cried, sounding very much like a toddler.

"Alright…" I sighed, lifting him up and tossing his arm over my shoulder so I could help him walk back to his room. "Let's get you into bed."

He shook his head. "I can't have sex with you, you're pwegnant with Belioff!" he yelled, throwing a hand in the air. "An I can't cause of Myyyyya! Did you know I love her?" god Adrian was an absolute crack up when he was drunk.

"You need to sleep, Adrian. We'll talk about you and Mia tomorrow, bur right now you need rest." We were at his room now, and I was searching his pockets for the key to unlock it while he accused me of feeling him up. When I found the key I unlocked the door, walking in to dump him on the bed unconscious.

I locked the door and slid his key back under it for him to use tomorrow, then left for my room again. Unlocking the door I was as quiet as possible, assuming that Dimitri would be fast asleep. And he was.

Somehow, even as he lay unconscious with nothing but gray sweatpants on, somehow he still looked deadly lethal. And deadly sexy… I half wish he weren't asleep, but to make sure I didn't wake him I grabbed a pillow off the bed and laid down on the floor next to the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

**DIMITRI POV**

I tried staying awake for her, but I just couldn't. I'd had to help out some of the other guardian's in training their students, and the novices were really brutal when they were out for revenge. Apparently they thought they could get at Rose through me… wow, I'd have to sit and watch one of her classes and find out why so many kids were out to get her.

A while after falling asleep, Adrian decided to show up, interrupting the nightmares I was having… nightmares of Kirstin. The child people describe as a demon… what if it hurt her? I can't let it hurt her…

"Hello there," Adrian said, seeming half surprised to see me. "What are you doing here? I was looking for Rose…" he murmured.

"Sorry to disappoint you," I muttered, sitting down in the grass. We were in a garden, a very beautiful garden at that.

"Tell her I said thank-you when you wake up, for helping me out." He's voice was half embarrassed.

"I will if you tell me what she did."

"I was… I had a little too much to drink, and was heading for a staircase. She helped me back to my room just now… she probably isn't back yet, which would be why I found you instead of her."

I started laughing a shaky laugh, still troubled from the thoughts of what sort of monster Kristin could turn out to be. "Yeah, I'll tell her."

Adrian glared at me, looking like he was staring into my soul. "You're scared. Well, worried about something. I'm gonna say its Rose, so what is it?" he said, picking up on the fear… but how?

"How'd you know that?" I demanded, embarrassed that my emotions were so easy to read.

He grinned, happy to see he'd cracked me. "Your aura went all shaky, so I was just guessing what it was. Guess I got it right, so what's wrong with Rose?"

"Nothing," I mumbled. "_Yet_."

He looked confused while he stared at me, but then the light bulb switched on. "You weren't acting scared of the baby before. Why now?"

"I sighed. "I didn't want to worry Rose. She seems to think I'm some super strong guy that can handle anything… I can handle things I can fight, but I can't fight Kristin… not until I can see her. And what would Rose think if I tried to kill the baby if it turned out evil? She'd never forgive me…" I felt stupid admitting all of these things to Adrian, but it actually felt good to let it all out. So that's why females always talk and cry so much…

"Heck, I thought you were a freak with no fears. But here you are spilling out your pretty little heart." He chuckled and I glowered. "Belikov, if the baby comes out evil, think back to when you were strigoi and she thought _you_ were evil. She'll do the right thing, she always does." He glowered at the grass. "Sometimes I wish she wouldn't though, it'd save us all a lot of stress." He muttered.

Laughing, I nodded in agreement. "You're not as big a jerk as I thought you were." I declared, rubbing my arms.

He grinned. "Neither are you to be honest, must have been my little jealousy issues that made me hate you before."

"_Little_ jealousy issues…" I repeated sarcastically. "There was nothing _little_ about them."

"I think you can go back to sleep now," he muttered, and then faded off into the distance, leaving me in darkness.

When I woke up, I was disappointed to find Rose wasn't back yet. But she should have been back ages ago… I have to go look for her, what if she's hurt? Or in trouble?

Tossing my legs off the side of the bed, I nearly kicked Rose in the head. So she was back… why was she on the floor? Probably didn't want to wake me. Why did she always think about others and totally abuse herself?

I lifted her off the ground and laid her in the bed beside me, falling back asleep happily.

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay, here's chapter 17 ^^ **

**Answers:  
1)Mia and Adrian aren't going out yet, they aren't even aware that the other one likes them. I'll have Rose fix that up soon too.  
2)Rose's mum will find out about the baby after Rose gets back from...err, what she does during this chapter. Don't worry, she hasn't been kidnapped.  
3)Wedding plans... Well, that'll definitely happen after the Kristin's born and Dimitri asks Rose to marry him :)  
4)Dad finds out NEVER. I don't like Rose's dad so he's officially being cut from the story. WOO :)  
5)I guess Rose's eyes would go back to normal when she's indifferent, but when does Rose ever feel indifferent? maybe when she just thinking... no, because she has feelings of the thoughts... i don't really know that one...hmm...**

**Alright, Enjoy! xxx :)**

* * *

**ROSE POV**

Waking up, I found myself in Dimitri's arms, my head on his chest and my feet hanging off the edge of the bed. He's arms were wrapped around me and he was still asleep, it felt like a crime to wake him up when he looked so peaceful, but looking at the clock I found that it was almost time for our meeting.

"D-"

"I know," he sighed, pulling me closer to him to kiss me. "It's time to go." so maybe he wasn't asleep...

I blinked a few times, startled. "Oh, what color are my eyes?" I asked.

"Turquoise." He murmured, staring into my eyes. "Will they turn brown again?" he asked, rubbing a finger along my cheek.

"I don't know," I sighed, kissing his cheek and pulling myself out of his arms to get up and dressed. "Are you ready for today?" I asked him, thinking about the whole blood thing.

He grimaced but nodded, swinging his legs off to the side so he could stand. "Are you sure it doesn't taste horrid?" he pursed his lips. "It really tastes alright?"He didn't like this at all, but he was still going to do it. All because I was too selfish to go on living in a world that he didn't exist in. How horrible could one girl be? Just because I have to suffer doesn't mean I should have to drag Dimitri down with me.

"It tastes good. Dimitri…" I frowned, I didn't want to ask what color my eyes were, I'm sure Robert would have a chance to document regret soon enough. He didn't need it right now. "You don't have to do this… not if you don't want to. I'll completely understand if you'd rather not, I don't want to force you into anything…" actually yes, I did want to force him into this. But I wasn't going too… well; I hope I wasn't going to.

He smiled a little. "I want to, Roza. I'm just worried about the taste." He sighed, pulling on a white T-shirt.

Something was worrying him… scaring him… I could tell… hey, I could see his aura. It was blue with black sparkly dots. Spirit… awesome. Maybe I could dream hop as well, and heal. "Dimitri." I said, my voice irritated. "You're holding out on me, what's worrying you?" he looked up at me, slightly shocked a terribly confused.

"But I… I didn't… how in the world did you know that? I thought I was doing such a good job…" he muttered, obviously referring to his ability to hide his emotions. "It's…"

There was a knock on the door, and I could fell Lissa waiting outside. I turned to glare at Dimitri, who was now smiling in relief. "You will tell me." I stated, walking over to open the door. "Hey Liss, sorry we were coming now, only just got up."

Walking over to the room, I could take agues by Dimitri aura that he was still worried about something… and maybe annoyed? I couldn't really tell yet, I'd have to get Adrian to explain how aura's worked.

Adrian was the candidate for today, and he'd brought a razor, deciding we could use the slice and heal method for him. I cut him on the inside of his elbow so the blood had a one-way road to the cup, and I also got to heal him.

The magic felt so could… like everything in the world was perfect, like there was no such thing as evil. I loved it, and wanted to feel it again and again, but I doubted Adrian would like me slicing him up just for the sake of healing him.

Right now, Dimitri was gripping a glass of Adrian's blood, sniffing and staring at it with cautious eyes. It was actually a slightly amusing sight.

"And you're _sure_ it doesn't taste bad?" he asked again, trying to clarify some of the status of what he would be drinking.

"Dimitri, you don't have to drink it. But I've told you a thousand times now that you will like the taste." I sighed, thinking up a method to get him to drink it. "If you don't want it, give it here. Some of us value blood like a fine wine." I muttered, outstretching my hand.

He glared at my hand and swallowed a lump in his throat. "Here goes nothing," he mumbled, lifting the glass to his lips. His lips parted and he tilted to glass up. At first I thought he was going to taste it before drinking it, but then he decided to just chug it down. When he was done we all fell silent, staring at him and waiting for some sort of statement.

He didn't say anything though, and so I grew impatient. "See, it's good, isn't it?" I asked, smirking a little at his expression. He looked so funny, sort of amazed. Maybe he was going into shock…

He nodded. "I… wow." He was too baffled to form a coherent sentence. "I honestly thought you were just trying to make sure I wasn't scared…" he mumbled, glaring at the empty cup. "But that… that was the best thing I've ever tasted… does that make me a strigoi?" he's eyes widened and we all laughed.

"Silly Dimitri." I mumbled, taking to cup from him. "I've got classes to teach, and everyone has work. I suggest we get to it," I declared, kissing him on the cheek before rising.

My first class was in the gym training the senior novices, and the brunette boy I spoke to about people thinking I was dead was grinning when I walked into the class.

"Holy shit," a buff black haired boy said. "You weren't kidding, she is here." He mock punched the brunette's arm while he stared at me wide-eyed.

Looking around the class, I was both disappointed and pleased to see that this was an all boy's class. Disappointed because I like to see the girls beat up the boys, pleased because now I could torment them without worrying about having some brat throw a bitch fit.

"Alright," I muttered, dropping my bag and strutting over to the class with my arms crossed. I was going to use Christian's method. "One at a time combat training." I announced, and they started pairing up. "Quiet!" I demanded, and they all turned back to me. "One on one, against me." A few eyes grew wide with horror; others seemed to like the sound of a challenge. "If you beat me or leave a mark, you won't have to run laps around the oval for tomorrow's entire lesson." I grinned at the expression they were hosting now. "But, if you can't… I suggest you bring a few bottles tomorrow and keep your load light."

"Me first!" the brunette kid announced, rushing out in front.

I grinned. "Silly boy. I'm not tired yet. Do you think you stand any sort of a chance against me when I'm fully energized?" I grinned as he grimaced. "Clear the floor, go sit to the west all. When you lose, err… I mean when you're finish, you will move to the east wall. Move now." The brunette kid was stretching on the mats, trying to prepare himself. "What's your name, comrade?" it felt funny calling someone other then Dimitri comrade, but oh well.

"Justin." He said, never looking up from his stretches.

"Cool name." I muttered, waiting for him to get up. "It doesn't take an hour to stretch you know, I think you should be able to put up your best efforts now."

"Sorry." He mumbled, standing up. "You… you're not going to like… kill me, or anything are you?" he asked, his voice shaky with fear.

I started laughing and it took about a minute before was calm enough to talk freely. "Don't worry kiddo, I don't kill novices, not while their hearts skill beat." It was smart of him, and brave of him to throw a kick at me when he didn't think I was ready. "Nice try," I complimented him, throwing him halfway across the room. "But you'll have to do better then that."

"Better… right," he muttered, flipping back up to his feet.

I gave him the chance to attack me again, and this time he was a little sneakier about it. He threw a distraction punch at my face while he threw a leg at my knee. "You're being to careful, Justin. You need to be ready to kill me. Right now I'm the strigoi, and I'm trying to kill you're charge." I tried getting angry so my eyes flashed red, and by the looks of his face it worked. "Don't let me get your Moroi, Justin."

He clenched his jaw tight and started coming at me with all of his force, which wasn't too bad for a novice. He almost managed to land a knee in my kidney, but I dodged it in the last second. He seemed to slow, but I knew the only reason for that was because I was used to fighting strigoi, not dhampire's. When he was too tired to continue, I sent him off to the south wall.

"Why south?" he puffed out. "I lost; don't I sit in the east?"

I grinned. "To me, that was winning. You put in your all, and that's all I'm asking for. if you continue training like that, you'll get stronger and faster, then you'll be unstoppable." I patted his shoulder and called for the next novice to come forward while Justin stumbled off towards the south of the gym.

"What's your name?" I asked the boy in front of me. He had dirty blonde hair and was very tall. He's muscles were long and thin, but they were there.

"Chris." He answered, taking an offensive stance. His aura was dark blue, and it looked almost black.

"Well Chris," I said, mimicking his pose. "Good luck."

I went through fighting them all, and about half of them did give there all, while the others were still cautious not to hurt me. The cautious ones ended up bruised and battered and sitting on the east wall. The people that gave it their all were twice as battered as the failures, but they at least did as was expected. When the class was over, I was sure that I'd made a few new enemies.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," I said, waving them off for their next classes. I didn't bother leaving the gym, because my next class was in here with guardian Cobb. She was another new teacher at the school whose charge had just gone strigoi by choice. She'd killed them, and was now being relocated here to train the novices until she was assigned a new charge.

I was supposed to be working with her for most of my classes when she arrived, starting next session. I didn't know how experienced she was or what sort of training method's she liked using, but she wasn't going to take over my class.

When the door opened I assumed it would be her, but I was joyfully surprised when Dimitri popped his head in through the door, smiling widely at me. I gestured for him to come in, and he did so, followed by a girl that had blackish/brown hair cut into the usual guardian pixie cut, and was about the same height as me. She looked like any other guardian, but there was something in her eyes… something dark… not to mention the shadows she was covered in.

"Guardian Hathaway, meet your new teaching assistant." Dimitri said formally, keeping a guardian look on his face and stance. He wasn't very guardian like when he poked her in the shoulder to tell me who she was, though. "Guardian Nelson,"

"Thanks Belikov," I mumbled, trying to pull on my discipline face. She looked so… angry, and depressed. "Classes start in five minutes Nelson, I expect you'll have no trouble with my methods." Something about the way she was looking at me gave me the feeling she didn't like me very much, which instantly set me on the offensive.

"I'll be watching over your next class, Hathaway. Kirova wants to video your work for graduation, she's going to play all of the funny and good video's she finds." He smirked a little at some thought of his. "Last lesson I got Ozera getting attacked by his students, he didn't like the books being thrown at him, but it was hilarious." He chuckled a little, and I joined in.

"Silly Christian, when will he learn." We'd just broken out of formalities, so I decided to try and not be a bitch to the newbie. "I know you from somewhere." I stated, examining Guardian Nelson with curious eyes. "How old are you?"

"I attended classes with you. We worked together in field experience last year at laser tag." She said in a flat and emotionless voice.

"Skylar!" I cheered. I knew I knew her from somewhere. "How've you been?" looking at her expression – which was utterly unreadable – something told me the answer wasn't bright and happy.

"It matters not." She said, turning to walk over to the desk and drop her bag. "What group will we be teaching?"

"Mixed senior Moroi and novices. It's just basic combat skills, so I think we should have them do what I did with my last lot of novices. Fight them one on one, don't hurt or kill them though. The losers and winners go to separate areas of the gym once they've finished, and the losers are running laps tomorrow while the winners go through the exercise again, to get better and stronger."

Dimitri looked impressed, but Skylar's face didn't show the least bit of interest. "Okay." Was all she said before she pulled out a book and started reading.

"Why's she so sad looking?" I whispered to Dimitri.

"Remember Jesse?" he asked, whispering just as low as I was. I nodded. "They were going to get married and have kids."

I frowned, unimpressed. "I don't care about-"

"Jesse was her charge." He said, cutting me off.

Jesse… was her charge? The information I was given on Skylar was short, but it described briefly how her last charge had died. They went strigoi, and she killed them. Which meant Jesse went strigoi… but why? "Why would… he do that?"

He sighed and gestured for me to follow him outside of the gym. I followed him and waited. "Jesse… well, see you know how Jesse and you didn't get along very well?" he asked. I nodded again. "He'd sort of been plotting ways to get revenge on you. Violent revenge. And he didn't want other's doing it for him. But he knew he didn't stand a chance against you, even with magic. So… he and Ralf went strigoi to go hunt you down, but she killed them before they had the chance."

I gasped with my eyes bugging out. I didn't think they hated me _that_ much. I mean… okay, so I almost killed the guy… more then once… and I rejected him a few times… but… crap.

He nodded. "That's also the reason she doesn't like you very much. She blames you for what they did, she believes that if you weren't such a bitch to them back then that maybe his life wouldn't have had to end the way it did. So watch yourself… I wouldn't trust her." He muttered, glaring at the doorway to the gym.

"Do you think she'll try and avenge him?" I chuckled at the unlikelihood of _that_ ever happening. I was more afraid of the novices then I was of a girl I trained with. None of the novices in my classes even compared to my level of skill, and that was the guys. The girls? _Please_!

He pursed his lips. "I don't know, maybe. But I told Kirova I'd be watching over your teaching techniques from now on, so I'll be there to make sure nothing happens." He grinned then, moving past the gloomy subject. "It's almost time for the novices to go on their laser skirmish field experience, you're one of the guardian's coming to the exercise. There's only going to be twenty of us going this time… and we'll have replacements watching the school incase of an attack."

I beamed. "Seriously!?" I squealed, thinking back to last year… man that was fun... up until I was kidnapped by a strigoi and held captive for the first time. Some good did come out of that, though. That's where I met Nikki, and Alina saved her. I chuckled. "I'll be the bad guy this time." I frowned. "Hey… I never got my pizza and soda. Stupid strigoi…" I muttered, recalling the reason of why that might have been.

We heard whispers and footsteps and turned to see our next class. Right at the front, I saw Jesse, the brunette boy I'd tormented on my first day as a guardian. But he was a junior…

"Jesse!" I clapped, gesturing for him to come here. When he arrived I recognized the horrified look he had on his face well. "What are you doing in a senior class kiddo?" I poked him in the shoulder and he almost fell over.

"I- I was originally kept down for lack of progress. But since I got better I got raised back up." He stuttered as the other students filed into the gym.

"You'll have to fight me this session, we'll see how much better you've gotten." I grinned at his expression again. "How'd you get better?"

"Cause of y-you, I think you scared me into training harder…" he mumbled, dropping his head so I couldn't see him blush. He looked back up and went to say something, but stopped when he met my eyes. "Why are your eyes gold?" he asked.

"Oh…" shit… should I be telling students about that? I guess they'd find out anyway… maybe we could organize a school parade or something, and then we could tell them all at the same time. "Err… contacts; now get inside your late."

He blinked twice then hurried off through the doors, followed by me and Dimitri. Dimitri took his position against the door, doing that cool guardian thing, seeing everything but looking nowhere. I'd have to learn how to do that… Skylar hadn't moved from her position, she was still sitting and reading. She put her book down and switched into guardian mode when I walked in. well… she didn't switch into guardian mode, she just put her book down. By the looks of it, this chick didn't have any other mode.

After explaining what we'd be doing this lesson, Jesse bravely walked out to be my first challenger, which instantly earned him winning points. Now all he had to do was try hard and remember that just because I wasn't the enemy, doesn't mean I wasn't going to kill him. Although I wasn't going to kill him…

"You're not going to… kill me, are you?" he asked.

I stared laughing just like I had when Justin asked the same question. "If you don't give it your all I might accidently… so you better not risk it. Kill me before I kill you." I told him, and he did what Justin did. He attacked when he didn't think I was ready, but this time I actually wasn't and he managed to land a foot in my stomach. "Ow," I growled, grinning. "Nice," I had his foot in my hands, and he was currently trying to break free.

He smirked a little at the compliment while I heard the rest of the class sighing in awe. He was the first novice to hit me… and it hurt. I grabbed him up just above his knee and spun him around so that when I kicked him, he would hit the floor face first. But he used some super cool ninja skills and did a front flip before he made contact with the floor. Why couldn't I do flips…?

"I thought you were a novice, not a ninja." I chuckled. "That was pretty cool though." Grinning, I ran at him, and to my utter surprise, he jumped over the top of me and kicked me in the back. "What the hell…" I mumbled, spinning around on the defensive, ready for an attack. Okay… he really was coming at me hard. But if I tried to hard I could hurt the kid…

He came at me again, and I only just dodged the fist he threw at my face to find his elbow smashing into my rib cage. Wow… he was fast. I was really gonna have to try with this kid… damn. Trying was energy absorbing, and if I used all of my energy I wouldn't be able to fight off the others… better to be tired then lose to a novice.

He seemed to see the resolve on my face, and he grinned. "I didn't think it was really going to be that easy," he said.

"Like I said, I thought you were a novice, not a ninja." I ran at him and swung a leg along the ground, making it look as if I were going to trip him. But my plan was different, and the instant he jumped up I smashed him in the stomach with full power, sending his body flying through the air. At first I thought he was going to land head first and break his neck, so boy was I relieved when his hand flew out and he pushed himself back to his feet.

This kid really was a ninja… but he was weak from that blow, so I took the opportunity to knock him on his back and pin him down.

He grimaced. "You hit me once, and I lose. I still have a lot to learn." He muttered, struggling to free himself.

"I'll make you a deal…" I mumbled, thinking about the flips and ninja moves he was doing. "You teach me how to do that crazy ninja shit, and you can attend my morning training sessions."

He pursed his lips, contemplating something. From the corner of my eye I saw Dimitri glaring at him and realized I was still pressing against him to prevent him from moving. Chuckling, I rolled off to the side. So Dimitri was easily made jealous… fascinating.

"Will the training sessions be harder then classes?" he asked.

I grinned. "They'll be a lot harder then this toddlers shit, that's for sure. Right now we're working on endurance and speed, so don't come unless you're up for a challenge." I declared. The idea of ninja's gave me an idea that I'd be stealing off a show. Cool…

He smirked. "What time?"

"Before and after classes, and during lunch." I told him, helping him to his feet.

"I'll be there." he nodded and went to go sit on the eastside.

"Where are you going?" I demanded, grabbing him by the shoulder.

"You said the losers-"

"Yeah, the losers. You hit me, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have a wicked bruise on my back. So you won." I pushed him off towards the south area.

The lesson went on, and this class was a lot less cautious then the other class was, so more of these students were declared winners. I felt sorry for the students that had to fight Skylar, because she was sticking to the actual rules for victory, and so if they didn't hit her they didn't win. Some of the students managed, but not many. And she made them fight until they were screaming mercy, which I thought was just cruel.

Classes ended and I'd never been so relieved to have a session off. Fighting off ninja boy hurt, and then dodging and attacking the other student's just caused more pain, but I waited until they were all gone to show signs of weakness.

"Ooowww…" I groaned, rubbing my back with the tips of my fingers.

Dimitri laughed and came over to help me, god it felt good when he started rubbing circles over the point of impact. "That first boy, you know you're his idol?" he said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not his idol," I said, making funny faces of pleasure. "I just scared him into training harder, now he knows he can beat me up. Guess I better watch my back, huh?"

"No really," he said. "I hear him, when people say things about you he gets really pissed off. Someone found out about the strigoi thing, and he scared everyone out of saying anything. He's like you used to be, except he listens to his teacher."

I glowered at him. "Just like me, huh? I only listened to my mentor, and that was you. I offered him a deal, so now I'm his mentor too." I chuckled, thinking back to when Dimitri had a mini jealousy attack. "I only listened to my mentor because I loved him. So if Jesse's just like me… maybe he likes me?" I chuckled, feeling him skip a circle on my back.

"Who wouldn't love a mentor like yourself," he's voice was joking now. "With how sweet and kind you are too them," okay, now he was being sarcastic.

I sighed, grabbing his hand. "Time to go."

*******

It's been a week since Skylar had arrived here and every time I saw her she just seemed to move past further and further past sad and deeper and deeper into pissed off. She couldn't honestly blame me for Jesse being a total fuck head, could she?

I didn't care today, I wouldn't let anyone piss me off. It was time for the Laser skirmish, and I couldn't wait. It would be interesting being the bad guy this time, because I could only assume that the juniors that are now seniors would use some of my technique's from last year. Tamika and Jackson in particular.

We were currently sitting on the bus parked out front of the same forest surrounded warehouse, and Dimitri was up front giving everybody the rules. The rules were pretty much the same as last years, and the entire time he was talking me and Tamika's eyes were locked in some sort of staring contest. She was telling me something along the liens of 'You'll never take us alive.' and I was replying with what I hoped looked like 'I didn't plan to,' I wasn't going to hurt them; I just thought it'd be fun.

Tamika and Jackson had paired up, and they had to male juniors by the names of Cody and Alan. I didn't like the name 'Alan', it was to close to 'Alex' which gave me goose bumps whenever I heard it. Alex was the sadistic vampire that decided I was going to be his little house pet.

Tamika had done as we had last year, climbing in through the window, and I was pleased to see that Jackson had improved his climbing skills. The junior's they had were lucky.

Jesse was actually sitting on the roof next to a small hole, and technically he could stay there for as long as he wanted. We'd started our training, and he didn't like the running, but he accepted it. We were working on speed, so I had him put weights on his ankles while he ran. Everyday I added anew weight, and I told him the heavier he was the faster he had to run. He still had his weights on right now, too. When we started combat I would also have him put weights around his wrists, so that he had to use more force to make his fist move fast enough.

And me? Well, I could now officially do front flips. We were currently working on back flips, and god was it painful. Every time I messed up I'd make contact with the gym floor, usually head first, resulting in an almost permanent egg on my forehead. I could only just cover it up with my hair.

Little Kristin was still alive and kicking, which was a relief considering all of the blows to the stomach I'd taken. Apparently it'd only be three weeks before she was out and in the world, growing up into whatever it is she'd grow into.

Kirova had organized a parade for Robert, Alina, and me to announce the new vampire race. They thought the eye thing was pretty cool. Wee didn't, however, mention anything about me being pregnant with a 'creature' that most people seemed to believe had to be evil. I didn't like the way Kirova reacted. She wanted me placed and quarantine during the last week of pregnancy, but Dimitri helped me talk her out of going to far. Me and Dimitri would just have a two week residence at the clinic, staring a week before the birth and ending a week later. The only people that knew abut this were Robert, Adrian, Alina and Lissa, simply because they would be there to heal me if anything went wrong.

My mother still didn't even know I was pregnant, and Adrian had told me a short time ago that apparently Dimitri was thinking about proposing to me. It had never really occurred to me that I might get married to Dimitri… I mean sure, I always dreamt of it, but I never thought it would be possible. But would being married really be the best thing to do? I mean sure, two dhampire's – err, well… actually, I wasn't dhampire anymore, I was a Malkavian Brujah, a manipulating warrior.

So why couldn't I have a baby and get married? It's not like I was abandoning my guardian duties or anything, so why should it matter? I would. If Dimitri asked me to marry him, I wouldn't hesitate to say yes.

"It's almost time for us to go in and wipe them out," Dimitri said, pulling me out of my mental blabbering. "We should go warm up with the others." I hadn't noticed that all the other guardians were outside jogging and stretching.

I nodded. "Sorry," I mumbled, jumping out of my seat and trailing him outside. "I was thinking to hard, got a bit lost." I joked, getting down on the ground to stretch out my hamstrings. Hopefully I could test out my new ninja skill. Along with the front flips, I could jump a lot higher, too. I used the weights, the same way Jesse currently was, and with the weights on I could jump almost a meter above the ground, so it'd be cool to see how high I could go without them.

"Are you going to be using your elite _ninja_ skills?" Dimitri chuckled. He enjoyed watching me jump around like an idiot while Robert through fire balls at me which I was to deflect. Christian was also wearing weights while he ran now, and so he was getting a lot faster. After today, I'd start them on combat.

"Hell yeah I am." I grinned, showing off my new flexibility and doing the splits. His eyes grew wider for a second, and then he smirked. "What? Jealous?"

He shook his head a little. "Better not say it," he muttered, walking away to avoid further questioning. The only times Dimitri stopped short and avoided questioning was when he was thinking like any other aroused man, so I could only think of the worst and funniest scenarios.

The horn sounded off, and we all grouped and started talking strategy. Lucky for us, the planning and skills we used last year were going to be anticipated, and so we'd be breaking up into groups of five and taking the front and back entries, while the other two groups scouted ut the forest. Apparently the guardians didn't like losing last year.

The bell went again, and we set off to go take out some novices.


	18. Chapter 18

**Wow this chapter could be a hell of a lot longer, and i could have updated a little sooner. Sorry, i think I'm getting lazy. I'll try and make up for it in the next chapter, sorry this one was so short. **

**Answers:  
1)Lissa helps out at the clinic with Adrian.  
2)Naw, no pizza for Roza. :(  
3)Dimitri in a tux... ohhh snap.  
4)Don't worry Skylar, you're only a bitch until Rose fixes it up, i can't tell you how though. i just needed a temporary bitch for the story, and you wanted to be added in... seemed like the perfect opportunity.  
5)Oh course everyone knows about Dimka and Roza! It's Saint Vlad's academy, even if only one person knew, with the start with the gossip that goes on in that place the whole world would know within hours!**

**I'm sorry to hear that this story seems to be a little to complicated for you 'omgsweetx3' i may have to dumb it down for future scenario's.  
**

**Okay, well Enjoy! xxx :)**

* * *

It only just occurred to me that not one of the novices had been killed yet… they were waiting for us.

"Stop!" I demanded, and all of the guardians froze. "They're going to ambush us…" I glared at the warehouse. "I say we get them the way we got you last year. They'll have snipers on the third floor and kids scattered through the trees, not to mention the ones that are just gonna jump us. Our tactics will work better if we split into larger groups." No way in hell was I going to let a bunch of novices beat us.

Alberta blinked, surprised to hear me speak up. "What do you suggest we do then?" she asked. She meant it, she wanted me to plan out tactics for a victory. Sweet…

"Dimitri, you go with Alberta's group to the forest, me and Stan's group will take the hall. We aren't going in through the ground level, so I suggest you grab some rope. Hit the windows up there," I pointed to a window that was closest. "I'll take my lot around the other side. The instant we're in there they'll start shooting at you with the laser guns, _don't_ let Tamika get close to you. Let's move." Dimitri and Alberta's groups took off into the forest while Stan and I grabbed ropes.

"Impressive, Hathaway." He said, starting small talk. "I would have assumed that you'd be trying to gain victory for the novices."

I snorted. "I can't lose to them, I'd never here the end of it." I took off with the other four, heading over to the window. Just like last time I was the first climber, making it easier for the other four to get up. As soon as I was in the window I was jumped by a few novices, but I was quick to dispatch them. Sniper's, just as I thought.

Once the rest of us were up we quickly realized we'd already captured the better point of attack. We met up with Stan's group in the middle section, near the pole I'd used to get down to the second floor last year.

"Nice job, Rose!" Guardian Black – the same guardian that saved me ass from a mob of determined junior novices last year – said to me, patting me on the back. A few seconds later one of the guardian's standing with us 'died'. He got shot… shit.

"Get down!" I hissed, knocking over the two people standing beside me while the dead guardian slid down the pole to join whoever else was in the bus. "We didn't have snipers on the second floor," I muttered, glaring down at the spot I just saw a ghostly movement.

"They probably knew that you wouldn't be anticipating that, so they did it. And I think they did well." Stan said, nodding his head.

"Okay… we need a sacrifice." I said grimacing. "I volunteer, I guess. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to slid halfway then make a leap, while I distract them you file down and take out the snipers on the second floor, and then we pile the bottom floor and go help the outsiders."

That plan was quickly thrown in the trash when the outsiders burst through the doors. "Distraction, go, go, go!" I demanded, leaping at the pole. Most of us made it, but one of the female guardians's slipped over and got shot. It was alright though, because when she tripped most of the novices gave away their positions while they started laughing.

I was disappointed to see that only four guardians were left from the outdoors, but pleased to see that Dimitri and Alberta were amongst them. We were moving quickly, taking out almost all of the novices on the second floor, and I only just caught sight on Tamika climbing up a rope to the second floor. God that girl had grown, last year she was squealing about getting me as a partner, this year she's trying to eliminate me.

Once we finished off all of the second floor, only Alberta was still on the ground floor, getting piled by novices. There were only 6 of mine and Stan's group left as well… damn. They hadn't beat us yet…

I sent the other five down to the lower floor to assist Alberta while I climbed back up to the third floor after Tamika. I saw being sneaky abut it, though. And instead of going in from the inside, I jumped out the window and climbed the drain pipe to get her by surprise. Masterful plan, if I do say so myself.

I peered over the window seal and smirked when I saw her lying on the ground, peeking down at the fight going on below. I jumped and landed on her back, covering up her mouth while I laid into the receiver on her arm. I let her go when she was 'dead'.

"I should have known," she sighed, scratching her head.

I chuckled. "Well done, but sorry, you lose." She climbed out the window and headed back to the bus.

Running over to the pole to slid down, I almost screamed when someone grabbed my leg and slammed me into the wall of the second floor. I was instantly alert, jumping backwards to face my opponent.

Ninja boy.

"You shouldn't let your guard down Guardian Hathaway," he grinned at me, pleased.

I smirked at him. "Well done, Jesse." I complimented him, lunging at his chest receiver, trying to get in a K.O hit before he could take anymore life points off me. That one smack into the wall took off ten points, and being a guardian I only had 30, taking me down to 20 while he still had 50.

He dodged it, but I managed to knee him in the shin before I jumped backwards, just barely escaping his foot. Jesse was going to be one kick ass guardian when he graduated, that was for sure.

We continued on fighting like that for a while, almost perfectly matched. Well… technically, but only at the skill level I was attacking with. He seemed to realize that I was holding back…

"Why are you holding back?" he demanded, dodging my elbow.

"We're only aloud to attack with a certain amount of power or we could break the receiver's, and then you'd be electrocuted." I grunted, ducking from his leg and taking a swing at his knee. I made contact and sent him backwards onto his back. I didn't hesitate to jump him, but someone tackled me before I could.

"That's hardly fair," I demanded, leaping backwards to glare at my new opponent. "Ah, Jackson. I should have known." There were also two other's standing with them. "Are you all that's left?" I asked, taking a step backwards and preparing to make a leap for the first floor.

Jackson smirked and nodded. "And you're the last guardian left."

"Well… this should be interesting." I took the leap, finally getting to use some of my ninja skills; both the jumping and the flip were included then. "So, ninja boy, bail out kid, and your two little buddies. This shouldn't take long." I smirked, trying to look more confident then I was. God, I couldn't beat ninja boy without risking his life, and now I had a speedy kid and two buff guys to deal with as well. Not good.

Not good at all. Ninja boy was right behind me and so was Jackson, and I was very ashamed when I didn't notice the two behind me.

They double hit me from the back and when Jackson knocked me forward, ninja boy delivered the last kick to my chest receiver.

They beat me. Damn…

"Ow." I muttered, when Jesse lent me a hand up. "Thanks. And well done, nice team work."

"Hey, if it wasn't for Fodder we would have wiped each other out in the first five minutes," Jesse said.

"Whose Fodder?" I asked, heading for the door.

"Tamika." He called out just as the door closed. Of course it was Tamika; she was like the new Rose Hathaway. She was the girl that beat up the boys because she was stronger then them, she was always taking charge and she organized everyone. God I was proud of that girl, not to mention Jesse and Jackson. Teaching was… fun.

Looking up at the very stunned and confused eyes of students and guardians I smirked. None of them were expecting to see me out here. But where was Dimitri? That question was quickly answered when he popped up beside my shoulder with a video camera.

"You didn't just record me getting my ass handed to me, did you?" I demanded, glaring at his grinning face.

"Yep. I got all the good matches." He said as his grin grew impossibly wider.

"So why does Kirova want all of these video's?" I asked. It didn't make any sense.

"To play them on graduation. I think it'll be fun to watch all the good fights between everyone. Me and you will have to fight," he suggested. "I think everyone would enjoy that." He smirked, obviously assuming that he would be victorious during our fight.

"Not just yet," I told him, smiling a little. "Not until I finish my training, or else you might actually win." I stuck my tongue out at him like a little kid and giggle like one too. Being a kid was great… there were never any problems, and when they were I never got to involved. Unless I was the problem, which just so happened to be the case most of the time.

"What do you mean _might_ actually win? I taught you everything you know, but not everything _I_ know." He was trying to scare me, but I just laughed.

"Are you forgetting the part where I'm a ninja in training now? Or are you just assuming I want use my awesome skills on you?" I grinned as his confidence faltered a little and a ripple of concern washed across his face.

"Ninja skills or not, I'll still beat you."

I laughed and poked him to the arm. "We'll see about that."

Alberta was currently putting the novices through a mini-marathon that consisted of running, jumping, dodging, and climbing. They were running from the guardians, jumping the obstacles, dodging punches, and climbing trees. Dimitri was quick to start recording them.

It only took another hour for the left over novices to walk out in defeat. Ninja boy had won and was currently laughing at bail-out-boy. On the bus back to the academy I spent to whole time with my shirt raised and a flaming hand on my stomach, accidently forgetting that nobody other then Kirova and my close friends knew I was pregnant.

"What's with the flaming hand, Rose?" Jesse asked.

"None of your business ninja kid." I teased, trying to make a joke out of it. I loved feeling the little nudges that I felt when I did this, and so did Dimitri. But he couldn't stick his hand on my stomach around others or someone would guess why. It was alright if I laid my own hand on my stomach, it looked plain weird when Dimitri did it though.

The rest of the trip was boring and quiet, so I fell asleep. It was night time for the vampires, so instead of Adrian infiltrating my head, I tried to find his.

I searched and searched until finally I came through, and boy did he look surprised.

"Rose? I didn't know I was looking for you…" he trailed off, looking at me. "Why are you so… oh, you're pregnant. Sorry, forgot. Didn't think you were that big though…" say what?

Glancing down, I woke up and smacked my head into a bed frame. What the hell was that all about? But… I was awake now… why was I still so fat? I wasn't supposed to be like this for another two weeks! I wasn't as huge as I was in the dream, but I had a lump.

Oh I get it… damn, how long was I looking for Adrian? Looking around I recognized the clinic well, but I didn't recognize this room. This must have been the rooms they reserved for more… permanent patients. But where was Dimitri? And Adrian, Alina, and Lissa? Why weren't they here with me? They must have been working…

_Ah, so you're awake._ Robert's voice nearly scared me off the hospital bed.

_Err…yeah, how long was I asleep for?_ I asked him. It was so cool that could communicate with each others heads, but it was still pretty weird to start talking to the voices I heard inside my head. Talk about insanity…

_Only one day. You must have been pregnant earlier then I'd assumed. Sorry for the miscalculation._ He's mental voice was sincere.

_Okay no problem, but I'm gonna go find Lissa now. _I said, searching for Lissa's head. When I found her she was with Mia out in the court yard, and they were talking about me.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Lissa's voice was calm, but I could feel the worry and panic she was experiencing through the bond.

"Yeah she'll be fine. It's Rose after all, she wouldn't let a strigoi hurt her, so she wouldn't let a baby." Mia was trying to be reassuring, but Lissa and I could both see the worry and panic burning behind her eyes.

"She would let _a_ baby hurt her, but this is her baby. She's not going to hurt her baby, even if it puts her life at risk." Lissa grumbled. And she was right, I wasn't going to let anything or anyone touch my baby except for Dimitri. So no way would I ever think of harming her in order to save myself some pain.

"I guess you're right…" she murmured, thinking. "But Robert said that it would be just like any other birth when Kristin comes out, except for her being born dead. So just don't worry you know Rose is going to be fine." Mia smiled, looking confident in her words. I was very grateful to Mia for reassuring Lissa, because I could feel it working.

"Yeah, you're right." Lissa smiled, but she was still worried. "Come on, let's go see her."I left her head after that because they were on their way to see me.

I didn't like the hospital robe I was wearing, so I burnt a hole right through the middle so I could get to my baby. Oh god… what was my mother…

The door opened and I assumed it was Mia and Lissa, and I was utterly horrified to see my mother step through the door with a very disapproving look on her face. What was my mother going to think? Pretty sure I was about to find out.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"I… couldn't, I haven't seen you since I was told. I was going to email you…" she glared me down, indicating that she knew that I knew that I was lying. "I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you." I sighed, starting the fire up on my stomach again.

Janine looked alarmed at this and grabbed a glass of water, throwing it at my stomach. "You're trying to kill it!? Why!?" she demanded, searching for more water.

"Oh," I let the fire drop. "I guess… No, I'm not trying to kill her. She likes it, here come feel." I waved her over and she eyes me off as if I were insane. "Seriously, I'll explain once you see." I told her, trying to smile. God… I felt so nervous.

She walked over and placed her hand gently down, frowning. "I don't feel anything." She said. i grinned and shook my head, lighting up my pointer finger and pressing it against the side of my stomach. Janine pulled her hand away, startled. "Why does she react to fire?"

"Because that's the element she's specialized in." I stated, placing my hand down once more. "How did you find out? Does anyone else know?" she grimaced, and I was quick to copy her.

"When you fainted on the bus, your stomach apparently started glowing. Robert had to explain to everyone what happened. He wouldn't give us details or anything though, and I'm pretty sure he lied about everything other then the fact you were having a baby. Most of the novices and seniors know… but I'm not sure about the juniors. They probably do though, you know how gossip travels."

Oh yes, I did know. I sighed, closing my eyes and feeling Lissa peeking through the door. "Come in, I know you're there." I heard the door close and could feel the aura's of both Mia and Lissa, and my mother. And little Kristin… "Yeah I'm fine, don't worry." I opened my eyes, smiling. "Want to feel?" I wonder if I'll start getting all maternal…

"Sure," Lissa face lit up and she didn't hesitate to stick a hand on my stomach. "I don't feel anything. Is she tired?" oh… I guess Robert really didn't go into detail for them. Not even Lissa and everyone.

I stuck a finger on my stomach again and she gasped. "I guess I should start explaining, huh?" she all nodded and I sighed, going into detail about Kristin and me. Her being born dead then apparently bursting into flames, blah blah etc etc. I told then everything, right up to the part how we'd both be a live for about 250 years, Lissa and Mia already knew this but it was new to my mother.

"What?" she gasped. "What do you mean you're going to live for 250 years? That's not possible." After she said that I went into detail about how me, Robert, and Alina were a very rare breed of vampires. She was fascinated by every last part, right up to the bit about me still being pregnant, even while I was strigoi.

"Okay so that's my life story right up until now." I joked, smirking a little. "It's a lot to take in, huh?" I asked, attempting not to laugh at my mother's absolutely disbelieving and stunned face. I bet she didn't have the slighting clue that she was giving birth to not only one freak, but twins.

"But then… why did you spend 18 years as a dhampire?" she asked.

"Because when Robert and I were still inside of you, he was draining energy from me. And… when I was living with the strigoi, they forced me to…" I sighed, grimacing at what her reaction would be to my next words. "They forced me to drink Moroi blood, and it gave me back the stolen life that Robert accidently took from me before birth, turning me into what I am now."

None of us were surprised by her incapability to speak; it was probably too much to take in in just under an hour. I was still waiting for Dimitri to show up, anxious that he hadn't come to visit as well.

"So…" I said. "Summing it all up, we'll say… I am pregnant with a baby that's going to be lethal, I'm an almost unheard of species of vampire, I was strigoi for the 6 months you thought I was dead for, I have a twin that you never knew about, I was forced to drink Moroi blood, and my eyes change color according to my moods."

She peeked up at my eyes. "What emotion cause's them to go gold?" she asked. I was about to tell her I was happy, but her question surprised me, effectively changing the color of my eyes. "And amber, what emotion is that?" she frowned, confused and annoyed that my eyes kept shifting from color to color.

"Gold means I'm happy, amber is surprised. It's gonna suck having everyone know how I feel all the time."

And then the door opened, and Dimitri stepped through with a small box of chocolates. He froze when he saw my mother and he's eyes grew wide with what could only be described as total and utter fear.

"Is this a bad time…?" he asked, sinking back out into the hallway a little. "I can come back."

"No you stay, I was just leaving." My mother said, heading for the door. Dimitri slipped through and held it open for her. "You'd better take care of her." She said in her guardian voice. Dimitri nodded and closed the door once she left the room.

"So," I chuckled, looking at the relief on Dimitri's face. "You'll face down countless strigoi in order to find and save me, but you take one look at my mother knowing she knows about us and you shrivel up?" my voice was taunting as I eyed the box of chocolates he was holding. God I was hungry…

He noticed me glare and came to sit beside me, opening the chocolates and handing them to me. "I kill strigoi, yes. But so does your mother, which means she's tougher then strigoi. Being a little scared of her is… nothing to be ashamed of…" he said, trying to defend himself.

We all laughed at him, shaking our heads. "A _little_ understatement there."

We continued on like that for the rest of the day, laughing, sighing and chatting. Dimitri was slowly changing from the blood, just as we had hoped. But now they'd have to do it all without me. Adrian and Robert showed up a little later, followed by Nikki and Eddie. Nikki was so happy to hear that she was going to have a niece.

Mia and Adrian were officially an official couple, apparently I hadn't needed to bring them together, they were doing it all by themselves, nice and secretly. Christian was the last to show up, and he actually looked enthusiastic at the mentioning of babies, causing me to wonder how much longer it would be until Lissa was a mother. Or was she already pregnant?


	19. Chapter 19

**Woo! Chapter 19! I loved writting this chpater! *tears* :') I wunna say WHY but i sort of can't... *sigh* guess you'll have to read and find out ^^ *squee***

**Answers:  
1) Yes Christian and Lissa are already married :)  
2) When, or rather _if_, Christian and Lissa have babies, it probably won't be at the same time as Kristin as born. Seeing as Rose is a week from giving birth and Lissa isn't bubbling up yet.  
3) Oh gosh no! Well... i don't know, i think that would start a little to much drama. Yeah, i love drama, but i'm not good enough to write that out... So the guardians probably won't even find out about DImitri, so no they won't be drinking blood and changing. That'sto much for even me to handel.  
4)PSHTT! Screw Tatiana, she can't control Adrian's life.  
5)This chapter gives a VERY breif description on the changes Dimitri is experiencing.  
6)Pregnant lady convention, LOL! I liek that one, but sadly no, Lissa won't be pregnant anytime soon.  
7)Err... is who expecting what? **

**Oh, i need suggestions for a new name, too. So if you have any idea's stick them in a review, thanks!**

**Enjoy! xxx :)**

* * *

**SKYLAR POV (Guardian Nelson)**

The bus of novices and guardian's who had left for the laser tag skirmish field experience was just returning through the gates, and from the windows I could see people rushing around. Guess I should probably go check it out…

I sighed heavily and started running over to the bus, the doors were opening and the bus was still moving, but the instant the doors were wide enough all I saw was Guardian Belikov leap out of the door with Guardian Hathaway in his, and he was heading straight for the clinic.

The bus came to a stop and I saw Jesse, Tamika, and Jackson, - three very promising senior novices - start running for the clinic also, but they didn't have much of a chance in catching up to Belikov.

When I got to the bus I pulled Alberta aside. "What happened to Hathaway?" I asked in a serious voice. Just because I hated her didn't mean I couldn't worry about her… but I didn't really… _hate_, her. I just didn't like her very much.

"Fainted on the bus trip with fire on her hand, almost lit the whole bus up." She said wide-eyed. "Then she started getting real fat real fast, and we just got back now." She started walking for HQ.

Right… so, she fainted, tried to burn a bus full of novices and guardians down, then she got fat out of nowhere. What the hell was up with that? Curiosity was demanding me to go the clinic, so I let it drive my legs forward while my mind protested.

_But Jesse and Ralf went strigoi because of her! You shouldn't care!_ My mind was screaming all of the reason that I should have been the one that knocked her out.

But the more reasonable side of me was going over the selfless deeds she'd done for our world. Not to mention the fact that by saving this school, she actually saved me, _and_ Jesse _and_ Ralf. They went strigoi by themselves; she had nothing to do with it.

I was going to make things right.

**ROBERT POV**

_Still asleep_. The annoying little voice in my head told me, like I didn't already know that. Sighing, I got out of bed in order to go get something to eat. I was hungry, but it was hard to concentrate on that when I was more worried about Rose. God, I had a new emotion and there wasn't anybody around to help me note it.

Belikov was changing, and he didn't loathe having to drink the blood anymore, he just didn't like hurting everyone else to get it. The changes weren't all that physical, it was just his organs and what not. He said he could feel something that might be magic, but he couldn't touch it, and it was very faint.

So Rose was right, it is possible to change any dhampire into one of us. But would we really want to? I mean… if word got out that if a dhampire drank Moroi blood to become more powerful, we wouldn't have to worry about only strigoi trying to catch and kill them, we'd have power hungry dhampire's.

We could do it secretly… and maybe when Dimitri changed we could just say that I, Alina, and Rose did some cool magic with Spirit that turned him into one of us. I recon that would work out okay, no- one would stop to question Rose out of pure fear, anyway.

I felt the connection to her dreams break at the same moment I felt the tug of our mental connection link up. I grabbed a salad and chicken sandwich and went to sit down and have a chat with my big sister. She was thirty seconds older then me, but I wasn't going to be the one to point that out, not with the way she loved to tease.

_Ah, so you're awake._ I said, almost laughing at the fact that she'd almost flipped herself off the hospital bed at the sound of my voice. That would've looked pretty sane, wouldn't it? Sitting down and eating a chicken sandwich in the middle of the commons, then for no reason bursting out into laughter.

_Err…yeah, how long was I asleep for?_ She asked me, then she started running over how 'cool' it was that we could communicate via mental messages. She didn't like the idea of talking to voices in her head though, she'd faced insanity once before and didn't look forward to facing it again…

_Only one day. You must have been pregnant earlier then I'd assumed. Sorry for the miscalculation._ I kept my tone sincere, sensing the worry she was feeling.

_Okay no problem, but I'm gonna go find Lissa now. _She said, searching. It was fascinating to feel her sifting through her mind, trying to find the link she had with the princess. I didn't like it when she found her though, because it always cut the link between out own minds.

Once I finished my sandwich I went over to grab a bottle of water, but I turned when I heard the door open. I knew the girl that walked in, she was guardian… Nelson? Something like that. Rose didn't think that she liked her very much.

She started glaring around the room, searching for someone in particular. When her eyes met mine, her legs started moving and she was locked on me like a homing missile, glaring with all her might.

I turned to get my bottle of water, trying to avoid whatever she was going to try and do or say to me. Turning around I found her standing directly in front of me, but her look was no longer angry, she seemed to be worried.

"Is Hathaway going to be alright?" she asked. So much for not liking Rose…

"Come sit," I old her, gesturing for her to follow me back to my table. She nodded and came along, not saying anything until we got there. "Okay, I assure you Rose will be fine." I told her, getting ready for the next load of questions. It wasn't possible for someone to ask only one question.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked, proving me correct.

"She's pregnant." I said, taking a drink out of the bottle. I almost spat the water out at the expression on her face; she looked so lost and confused.

"But… what? How?" she asked, frowning.

"I can't go into details. All I can say is that she's pregnant with a very special girl, and she'll be absolutely fine in about two weeks. Maybe less then that," well telling the truth was probably the best idea, but I wouldn't go into details. I just needed n explanation for why she would be getting so fat so fast. Although I should probably tell the doctor that was attending to her all of the details so he didn't get worried when Kristin came out without a heart beat.

She nodded and stood up. "Thank-you." She said, and with that she walked back out of the commons.

**ADRIAN POV**

Rose quite obviously knew about me and Mia, and I was thankful that she didn't go and tell everyone she could. I was pretty positive she did that for Mia though, not me.

We were both still a little… worried, at what my aunt Tatiana was going to do. When she found out, this is why no-one that knew about us planned to tell her anything about it. She's my aunt; she can't control my life no matter how bad she wanted too.

I still remember Rose's face when I asked to talk to her alone. She knew that it was going to be about the promise she made me, but she guessed wrong. She assumed I wanted my chance to get serious with her, so she was all desperate and apologetic. She looked so confused when I told her I didn't mind.

Remembering her face now caused me to laugh on my way down the hallway, earning me a few sanity questioning side-long views. I must have seemed insane or crazy to a lot of the students and guardians here at Saint Vlad's academy.

"Hey Adrian," Robert said, jogging up from behind me to catch up to me. "Do you know what happened to Rose?" he asked.

"Something happened to Rose?" I demanded. How could something happen to Rose? She was _Rose_, I guess. Everything happens to Rose…

"Guess you don't know either. She fainted or something, she's in the clinic but Kirova's got a list of people that can and can't see her. Apparently I'm not on that list." He muttered, glaring at open space.

"Come on, let's go see if I am." I grabbed his arm and started running.

When we got there my name was on the list, so I could guess pretty easily what was going on. But they still wouldn't let Robert come, so I used a little compulsion and got her to let me write down some names that weren't there. I wrote down Nikki's name and Eddie's and Robert's names, and then continued down the hall to one of the more private rooms.

Opening the door, we found Rose sitting up on abed with a lump of a stomach, and the fabric around her stomach was burnt. Dimitri was next to her with his arm wrapped around her lower back, and Lissa and Mia were perched on chairs, grouped around the bed. They all looked up at our arrival.

"Hey," I said, grabbing a chair to go sit next to Mia. Everyone in this room already knew about us, so I bent over to peck her on the cheek.

"Hiya," she said, a little blush heating up her perfect pale cheeks.

"I'm in the clinic so I _don't_ get sick, don't start that mushy crap than-" Rose started, but was cut off by Dimitri's lips on hers. "Ehem," she cleared her throat. "Never mind." We all laughed at that and she shrugged it off, acting like she wasn't just criticizing me for kissing Mia.

**(Rose's sixth day in the clinic, the day before Kristin is born.)**

**DIMITRI POV**

Sitting in my chair at the clinic, still awake and watching both my Roza and the door, I couldn't help but think about what tomorrow would bring.

Most of the 'gang' as I will call it, now knows about my worry for how Kristin will turn out. None of them share my worry, but they aren't criticizing me for worrying about it, either. Whenever Rose notices that I'm worried, - which happens very often now, seeing as she can guess my moods through the color of my aura, - they help me cover it up. None of them want her to worry about me being worried.

The lump that is our little girl, Kristin, is absolutely huge now. Most of the school knows Rose is pregnant, and people keep sending her cards and flowers. She was worried that people would be mad or upset with her for having a baby, but everybody thinks she deserves to be happy after everything she'd gone through for them. After everything she's gone through for _us._ Even if someone did try to be bitchy or nasty to her, they'd have their own room reserved at the clinic for the next month.

Even Skylar, a guardian that despised Rose for unjust reasons was trying to support her. She seemed to know that something was special about Kristin, just like everyone else. Nobody knew what it was that was special about her, because none of us would say anything. But any baby of Rose's was going to be special nonetheless, even if she was born human.

Rose rolled over and almost hit the floor. I only just managed to grab her.

"Huh!?" she cried, automatically wrapping her arms around the lump in her stomach. "Oh, shit what happened?" she asked, noticing that she was safe in my arms.

"You tried to roll, and you rolled too far." I said, placing her back on the bed. "It's alright, go back to sleep." I kissed her forehead and laughed a little at the way she passed out the instant her head touched down to the pillow.

I could feel the magic of being a lot closer to a Moroi then a dhampire now, but I still couldn't touch it. Rose was very happy that the change was working; she was so scared to think that she'd be living in this world for so long without me. I would have done the same thing if it were me in her position though, 250 years is too long for anyone like me to live. But any amount of time living without Rose would be simply unbearable.

I grimaced, remembering the conversation Janine and I had two days ago. I'd been avoiding her before that, trying not to be seen by her. Rose was right, I could face strigoi without flinching, but her mother made me feel like running away. It never used to be like that, only just now that she knew I was with her daughter.

All she'd said was 'If you break her heart, I'll rip yours out. Use her, and you'll never see the sunshine again.' And then she'd walked off. I'd never dream about breaking Rose's heart though, and I would never use her either.

Janine and the other guardians left yesterday, called back to their Moroi. Janine was offered the chance to stay until Kristin was born, but she was too good of a guardian to keep her Moroi waiting.

There was a knock at the door and I was quick to answer it, stepping out into the hallway so we didn't wake Rose. "Yes?" I asked the nurse, who was holding a small gift wrapped box.

"This just arrived for Guardian Hathaway," she handed me the box and nodded, continuing on her way down the hallway.

I wanted to check what it is, but it would be rude to open Rose's present. Closing the door behind me I went back over to my chair, placing the box on the small bedside table beside her glass of water.

Rose yawned and stretched out her arms. "Who was that?" she asked in a groggy morning voice.

"The nurse you got a present." I handed her the box but she handed it back.

"Who's it from? And could you please open it?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded, looking at the tag. "It's from…" what the heck? "Queen Tatiana." I said, frowning. So, the queen was still trying to suck Rose into the royal court to work for her, this time she was using bribes.

"What?" she gasped. "Really? What is it?" she was curious now.

I continued to open the box up until I reached a plastic box with a small IPod inside of it. I took it out of the little plastic box to see how much memory it had. "It's an IPod touch screen I think, it's got 100KGB. And There's a small necklace with a silver Rose pendant." The necklace was beautiful.

"Wow," she said, holding her hand out. "Let me see the necklace." she giggled. "Think it's another lust charm?"

"A lust charm wouldn't hold any effect over me right now." I said, smiling at her little smirk.

She sighed. "She's still trying to bribe me into working for her, isn't she? I think that's stupid. I'll beat the royal court with Lissa, so I will be there. She's wasting her time." She tossed the necklace towards the table, and it got snagged on the vase of flowers. "I'll get Adrian to put some songs on that." She murmured, nodding her head towards the IPod.

"I'll go ask him too now," I said, standing up. "I'll be back soon." I bent down to kiss her and headed for the door, glancing back to see that Rose had fallen asleep once more. I guess being pregnant must be tiring.

**ROSE POV**

"Huh!?" I cried, my arms automatically winding around my baby for protection. Oh, it was just Dimitri. But why was he holding me? "Oh, shit what happened?" I asked. I wasn't about to object to being in his arms, but I was curious to know ,

"You tried to roll, and you rolled too far." he said, placing me gently back on the bed. "It's alright, go back to sleep." he kissed mu forehead and laughed a little for reasons I was unsure of. It didn't matter much, I was too tired to care.

There was a knock at the door and I Dimitri get up quickly to answer it, stepping out into the hallway so he didn't disturb me.

I heard him place something on the table before he sat back down.

Yawning, I stretched my arms. "Who was that?" I asked, my voice groggy from lack of use.

"The nurse you got a present." he handed me the box but I handed it back.

"Who's it from? And could you please open it?" I asked.

He smiled a little and nodded, glancing down at the tag. "It's from…" he double checked thetag with an incredulous gleam in his eye "Queen Tatiana." he said, frowning.

"What?" I demanded. "Really? What is it?" What would the queen be sending me?

He continued to open the small box until he reached something harder. He pulled whatever it was out of the box and flipped it over, looking at it. "It's an IPod touch screen I think, it's got 100KGB. And There's a small necklace with a silver Rose pendant." He finally said

"Wow," I said, holding her out my hand for an item. "Let me see the necklace."I giggled, remembering the last 'get well soon' necklace I got; it too had a Rose pendant. "Think it's another lust charm?"

"A lust charm wouldn't hold any effect over me right now." he teased, smiling a little at the smug smirk I was holding on my lips.

I sighed, fiddling with the beautiful necklace. Beautiful, sure, but I hated rose things. "She's still trying to bribe me into working for her, isn't she? I think that's stupid. I'll beat the royal court with Lissa, so I will be there. She's wasting her time." I tossed the necklace aside, not giving a rats ass where it landed. "I'll get Adrian to put some songs on that." I muttered, nodding towards the IPod.

"I'll go ask him too now," Dimitri said, standing up. "I'll be back soon." he bent down to kiss me tenderly before heading for the door. I was asleep again before he left the room.

Lissa had finally worked out how to dream hop, and she was waiting for me in a garden with Alina, Adrian, and Robert.

"Hey," I said, looking down at my stomach and frowning. "Where's Kristin?" I demanded, glaring back up at them all.

They all seemed very, _very _relieved to see me. Lissa ran over to me with a lump of wood.

"Sorry Rose, but you need to wake up." She said, smiling a little. Then without warning she smashed the lump of wood into the side of my head, when I woke up I was back in the clinic, but in a different room and my baby was gone. Everyone in the room grinning at me widely, and Dimitri wasn't there.

"Where's my baby!?" I demanded, jumping out of the bed.

"Calm down Rose, she's with Dimitri. You were in pain, so the doctor had to inject you. Then you wouldn't wake up and we got worried… so I-" Lissa said, but I cut her off.

"So you came into my dreams and hit e with a lump of would." I grinned at her. "Yeah thanks. Where's Dimitri?" I asked, looking around the room once more. All I wanted was to see my baby, I wanted to see Kristin.

"I'm here," he said in an offhand voice as he stepped through the door with a blanket in his arms. It wasn't the blanket I was interested in, though.

"Is that her?" it was an idiotic question, what else was he going to be cradling to his chest, wrapped n a blanket? He grinned and nodded, holding her out for me. Holding my breath I reached my arms out for her.

Peeking down I swathe most beautiful thing I'd ever seen before. Her hair was silky smooth, waving down to her shoulders with a gorgeous burgundy color. Her skin was very pale, but it looked so natural. I couldn't tell what color her eyes were because they were closed. "She's…" I didn't no how to finish that statement. Calling something as this little girl beautiful seemed to be an insult.

I felt so weak when tears of happiness started running down my cheeks, but I couldn't care less. She was here, my baby was here, and she was more beautiful, more perfect then I ever could have imagined. I didn't notice that everyone but Dimitri had left the room, obviously trying to give as some privacy.

"She's ours." Dimitri stated simply, wrapping his arms around my waist. "She talks, you know. Already, but only one word. Try and guess what it is." He said, staring at Kristin with the same absorbed eyes as I was. So beautiful…

I shrugged. "I don't know, what did she say?" I couldn't drag my eyes away from her.

"Roza." He stated simply, kissing my cheek and pulling me over to the bed so I could sit down with my baby. My baby… no, _our _baby.

"She said my name?" I asked, managing to glance at Dimitri briefly to see the huge grin that was lighting up his face.

"Yes." He said. "If you want to see her eyes I'll move back a little. Robert said she'll still react to fire," he shuffled down to the edge of the bed, still peeking over to see out baby.

Smiling, I pulled one handout from underneath her tiny body, lighting two fingers up and brushing her forehead. "Kristin, baby are you awake?" I whispered, leaning down a little closer to get a better look.

Her eye lids fluttered open, and her eyes stunned me. The iris was all black, and in the middle were small flames. "Roza," she said, causing me to try again. "Roza." Her voice would put even the finest of finely tuned bells to shame. Not just bells, harps, flutes, no instrument could ever match the perfection that was Kristin voice… nothing would ever match the beauty and perfection that was my baby.

"Dimitri, come look." I waved him over before stroking her cheek again. "Yes, Kristin I'm Roza. I'm your mother, Kristin." I wonder if she'll have a Russian accent like Dimitri…

"Roza." She chimed again, a petit smile stretching out her lips. She was so beautiful… "Roza who Kristin?" she asked.

If I were standing up I would have fallen over. She wasn't even a day old, how was it possible for her to be talking? Guess I'll have to talk to Robert.

"Kristin is you," Dimitri said, running a hand over her hair. "Your name is Kristin."

_Brother, come inside our room. I have questions to ask._ I called for Robert, and a few seconds later he stepped through the door.

"Ah, she's opened her eyes for you. Good." Robert said, peeking at Dimitri. "Christian tried to wake her, and so did Alina. She did wake up, but she'd just frown and say _Roza_ then close her eyes again." He chuckled. "She's gonna be just like you." Lissa and the others filed through the door, repopulating the room with big grins on their faces as they spied Kristin.

"Roza, I are Kristin?" she asked, blinking once.

Everyone in the room froze up except Robert, Dimitri and me, staring at her in amazement. "Yes, baby that's you. Kristin, and this is Dimitri, your father." I said, lifting her up a little so she could get a good view of Dimitri.

"Poor kids not even a day old and you're already trying to force her into schooling," Christian joked, stepping a little closer to get a better view of her. "She really is something to look at, isn't she?" he smirked, looking down at her.

"Father?" Kristin asked, turning her tiny little head so she was looking at Christian. I started laughing while Dimitri glared at Christian, who had a very scared look on his face. Kristin shook her little head a little and turned back to face Dimitri. "No. Dimika father." She smiled a toothless smile, causing a tear to shimmer down Dimitri's cheek. Dimika, that was cute, and she wasn't far off. "Roza tired." She said.

"No honey, I'm not tired." I smiled and bent down to kiss her plump little cheek. "I'm not tired."

She frowned. "Kristin tired." She stated, and we all giggled when she opened her mouth to yawn shortly before her eyes fluttered closed.

"Well, she's awfully advanced for a kid that's only an hour or two old." Adrian said, coming closer to get a better view. "Pretty little thing, isn't she?" he smiled and looked up at me. "I'd expect nothing less from a daughter of you though Rose. She's gonna be the most lethal guardian around, other then you of course."

I snorted. "She'll be better then me, because she'll be me and Dimitri put together." I said, looking over at Dimitri who had a longing look on his face, staring at Kristin. "Do you want to hold her again?" I asked. I didn't want to give her up, but she was every much his baby as she was mine.

She smiled a little. "Can I?" he asked. I nodded, trying to smile about handing my baby over. I had something I needed badly to do.

"I'll be back in a moment, gotta go to the bathroom." I said, rushing for the door. I got in trouble for sprinting down the halls, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to get back to my baby. What if she did something cute while I wasn't there?

When I got back I slowed down, trying to look as if I didn't just sprint from one side of clinic to the other and back. Opening the door I saw everyone on their knee's grinning up at my baby who was sitting in the middle of the bed, no longer wrapped in her blanket. All she had on was a diaper.

When she saw me her face brightened up and she smiled. Damn it! I did miss something! Stupid bladder…

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Sadly, this chapter is a tad short too. It's a good 1000 wordslonger then chapter 18 though, so i'm getting there slowly!


	20. Chapter 20

**Alright, this chapter a little different... Sorry if it's a bit of a disappintment.**

**Okay, now, everyone has to say a big thank-you to JMeyer for her super idea to write a companion story for this one with a bunch of one shots :D! I totally loved that idea so much that i've alreayd started writting lots of little thigns, woo! Anyway so yeah, is you wunna check that out or request a chapter go find it and post your request there :)**

**Answers:  
1)Yeah... i guess you could fall for Robert. Might take some time though.  
2)Kristin, being a 'super advanced vampire baby!' developed her muscles and managed to sit up all onher own. Sure it wasn't much, but maternal Rose wasn't happy about missing it.  
3)Yeah, i guess Rose probably should have been awake for the birth, but i know NOTHING about babies and that sort of crap, so i knocked her out so i wouldn't have to write about something i didn't have a clue about... Sorry -.^  
**

**Okay! Enjoy! xxx :)**

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****ROSE POV**

"Robert, did you maybe forget to tell me that Kristin was going to be able to talk and use all of her muscles like she's already a toddler?" I demanded as I sat down next to my baby. She smiled and climbed onto me.

"Well I wanted you too see it for yourself." He said. "Aren't you glad I did? I mean who wants to know everything about their baby before it's even born! I was trying to do you a favor." He grinned down at Kristin.

I smiled a little, looking down to see her gorgeous eyes staring at me. When we locked eyes she giggled and grabbed my cheeks so my lips formed a funny 'O' shape. "Blub blub?" I said, and she… arched an eyebrow? I guess I'll get used to how advanced she already is… but god she looked so much like Dimitri just then, it was so cute.

"Roza silly!" she giggled, and then she put her hands on her own face and made the same funny 'O' shape she had with me. I looked over at Dimitri to see him staring back at both me and Kristin with affectionate eyes.

"I love you." I told him.

"I love you, too Roza." He said back.

Kristin frowned. "Roza love Kristin?" she demanded in a stern voice, causing us all to laugh.

"Yes Kristin, Roza loves you." I said just as someone knocked on the door, interrupting our little baby shower.

Dimitri grimaced but hurried over to get the door. It was Skylar, what the hell was she doing here? "What?" Dimitri demanded, ready to slam the door in her face.

Skylar shook her head a few times, trying to clear it. "Oh… sorry for the interruption, but Alberta needs you, and guardian Hathaway and Guardian Castile to report for duties. There's a possible breach, so we need to be on alert." She said, staring in at Robert who just so happened to be staring right back at her.

_Don't get any idea's, she's not someone for you to get friendly with._ I told Robert. He blushed and looked away Justas Dimitri closed the door.

"Eddie, Nikki, we need to leave." He rushed over to kiss me and Kristin before he hurried out the door.

"Oh great." I muttered. "Security breach. Of course the strigoi are going to attack the day Kristin's born, aren't they? I mean it's not like I can have any peace in my life, is it?" I growled, wishing I could've gone with them. "Hah! Well let's just see them try and get my baby." I scoffed, reaching over to grab my stake.

"Calm down Rose, a security breach doesn't mean strigoi are here." Mia said soothingly. "It could be a bear or something, the scanners just pick up anything roughly human size that crosses the wards." She grinned. "And if the scanners got it then it crossed the words, so it can't be a strigoi." got I loved Mia so much right now…

Robert on the other hand… "What the heck was that?" I demanded.

He blinked. "Err, what was what?" I glared at him. "Oh… that… well… you see… that was… erm…" he trailed off, trying to think of an excuse. "She doesn't hate you, you know? What's it matter if I check her out? She was worried about you, I could tell by her aura." He smirked at me. "I guess you weren't paying enough attention."

I glowered at him. "Whatever, do what you want I can't control your life." I turned back down to Kristin smiling, she was looking very confused. "Now your life on the other hand, that I'll be taking care of for a good ten years at least. You have to pick a man who's strong and can protect you." I smiled and she smiled back. "A man like your dad, Dimitri. He'd never let anything happen to you or me, he never does. And when something does happen he always fixes it."

"Dada strong man?" she asked. I nodded, and beamed down at her. Gosh I loved her so, so much. "That why mama loves dada?"

"Yes baby that's why I love him, partly, anyway." I loved Dimitri simply because he was Dimitri. That was that.

"Mama Kristin tired." She yawned and crawled out of my lap. Owh… "Nie nie." She yawned again and her eyes closed.

I sighed. "She's so perfect…" I turned to Lissa. "You have to stay here with her, I'm gonna go see what that breach thing was all about." She nodded. "If she wakes up… Mia, if she wakes up you come find me." Mia nodded and I headed for the door.

"Wait," Christian said, following after me. "I'll come too, just incase."

I frowned. "No." I put a hand out to stop him. "You stay here, just incase." She pursed his lips and nodded, turning back into the room while I shut the door.

Walking down the corridors I got a few worried glances from the nurses. But I think that was mainly because my tears of joy were only just starting to stop. When I got to the door I could see it was dark out, so I grabbed someone's big black leather coat with gray fur trimmings and pulled it on before heading out. Guardian's were rushing around everywhere, so I headed straight for HQ at full speed.

When I got there I could hear many different voices from inside, but it was Dimitri's calm voice that stood out from all the rest. Opening the door everyone stopped to look at me. "What's going on?" I demanded.

"Roza, where's Kristin?" he asked with wide eyes.

"With Mia, Adrian and Christian, she's asleep. Now tell me what's going on." I demanded, crossing my arms.

"Remember Davis?" He asked.

"Guardian Davis?" I asked, confused. Guardian Davis was two spaces behind Dimitri. What the hell? "You mean that guy?" I jabbed a finger in his direction, causing him to flinch back a little.

He shook his head twice. "No, my old mentor. The strigoi Davis, the one that was with me when you and Alina came to save me." I nodded, unimpressed. I wonder what happened to that guy… "Didn't you notice how he disappeared as soon as Alina started fixing me? He got the information he needed, and then he left. Now he's back and he's got a _lot_ of strigoi and humans with him. They want 50 Moroi students, if we give them that then they'll leave us in peace. If not they're going to attack the school, and kill us all."

How could I leave my baby unprotected? I ran out the dorm and headed for mine and Dimitri's room, where my old fighting things would be. With the knives and boots and gloves and everything. If they came anywhere near my baby I'd kill them all. I dressed quickly then sprinted back to the clinic, I told the nurses and doctors to get whatever patients are here and go to the church before I ran to my room.

"Come, now, no question. Move." I demanded of my baby sitters as I scooped up my baby and my missing stake. They followed me wordlessly until we got to the church, then they started asking questions.

"Rose, what's going on?" Christian asked.

"Invasion." I huffed. "The strigoi, they've got humans with them and they're going to attack us soon." I glanced down at my baby with a panicked look. "Mia," I said, looking up at her. "I'm going to give you Kristin to take care of, and I'm going to go get some more Moroi into here and alert the novices. Christian, take this." I tossed him a radio. "If you see _anything_ that could be dangerous, radio me _immediately_." I demanded.

He nodded and followed me to the only entry to the church, taking up post there while I continued for the dorms. I informed an entire dorm of the Moroi to hurry down to the church, but that was all that was going to fit into the church. After that I went to the senior novices dorm, ordering them all to go to the guardian HQ and get stakes before splitting into groups to go guard the Moroi dorms.

"Rose!" a male novice called. Ninja boy. "Rose what's going on?" he asked.

"The strigoi are going to attack." I handed him one of my stakes. "I need you to go to the church and ask Christian Ozera for orders. Tell him I sent you, go now." I pushed him off and continued down the hall. To Tamika's room. I handed her a stake and gave her the same order's I'd given Jesse, and just like Jesse she took off towards the church at full speed.

Once I had informed most of the upper campus what to do and where to be, I headed for the guardian HQ. I couldn't believe that they were all still just standing around in there.

"Hey!" I demanded, jumping up on a desk. "I've got novices and Moroi on duty and lock down. I need guardians to go secure the lower campus now, and one guardian for each of the upper Moroi dorms!" I ordered. They all just stared at me for a moment before my words set in.

"You heard the girl!" It was Skylar who broke the silence. "Get moving!" she looked up at me with a determined look and I nodded at her. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all…

"Guardian Nelson, you come with me." I waved for her to follow and jumped down off the table, grabbing her hand and heading back for the church. And then my radio buzzed. I didn't need to here him say anything, I just needed to know he was. I released Skylar and started sprinting as fast as my body was capable of, and Skylar wasn't too far behind.

When the church was in view I saw flaming bodies, and a heap of fire using Moroi were posted out the front of the church along side Christian. Pulling out my little silver knives and hit three of them from behind before they realized we were even coming. It was good to see Jesse and Tamika kicking some strigoi ass as well.

"Hathaway I forgot my stake!" Skylar said. Luckily I still had two left, so I tossed one back to her. "Thanks!"

We all continued fighting and killing every strigoi and humans that came within a 100 meter radius of the church. The instant all of them were dead I went and collected my throwing knives and rushed inside to see my baby.

"Mia?" I called.

"Here!" Mia called, sticking a hand up.

I grinned, pleased to see that every Moroi in the church had formed a protective barriers around Mia and Kristin. "Is she alright?" I asked.

"She's still asleep, so she's fine." She called back.

"Okay, thanks." I waved and went back outside with the others. Having magic during this fight was so much easier then using that flame thrower that came with this set, but ninja boy absolutely loved the flame thrower.

"Rose, what now?" he asked, coming over to me with Skylar and Tamika.

I contemplated for a moment. Somebody was obviously going to need help out there, but I couldn't leave my baby unguarded. That didn't mean that the others couldn't leave. "Alright, each of you three take two fire using Moroi with you and go protect a Moroi dorm. Any tired fire users you can go sit down. I'll keep watch here." They nodded and took off towards the dorms.

_Sister, me and Belikov are on our way to the church to assist you._ Robert's mental voice said.

_No need,_ I said. _We've got them all from here, go make yourselves useful._ I did want Dimitri here with me, but others needed him, elsewhere. Robert told Dimitri that they weren't needed, and I felt him head off to the west towards the dorms.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I can't believe that we got all panicked about this!" I crowed. God, this was probably the least successful strigoi invasion this school has ever seen, and it was the most worked up we'd ever gotten about a strigoi attack. I sent the other fire using Moroi back into the church, but Christian refused to go inside and hide.

"I feel sorry for the strigoi." Christian muttered. "They picked the day that Rose Hathaway was feeling extra protective to attack. I think they would have done better if you weren't so lethally maternal right now." He's voice was joking, but I guess it was true. Usually I would have been taking orders, not giving them out.

I laughed. "Their plans were doomed the instant they gave us warning about their attack. It would have worked out better for them if we didn't have time to prepare, strigoi are so stupid." I muttered.

The nauseous feeling I had was very distant now, but just then it got very strong very fast, and a few seconds later another flock of strigoi burst from the woods. "Fire users!" I called, for them while I set the first line of strigoi aflame.

"Hold on Hathaway," a somehow familiar voice called from the swarm of strigoi. The strigoi moved to the sides, forming a path for someone to walk through. That someone just so happened to be Davis. "My my, you have grown." He's eyes appraised me, causing me to feel very violated.

"Why, Davis? Why are you doing this to us?" I demanded.

He arched an eyebrow. "Why? My dear that should be obvious! We're hungry!" he scoffed. "Why else would we do this? Strigoi aren't evil Rose, we just get hungry. Calling us evil for killing people would be like us calling you evil for eating breakfast."

"Hah!" I snorted, lighting up a few of the strigoi beside him. "I was strigoi for half a year!" I announced, setting another lot on fire. "I didn't eat until my very last day!" I set another group on fire as they started retreating slightly. "And I drank the blood of ANIMALS!" I roared, whipping out another large group of them. "Strigoi _are_ evil, and I _will_ kill you all." I growled and set another lot of them on fire.

"Roza," I heard Christian from behind me and spun around to scream at Mia to go back inside, but the instant I turned Davis was on me, followed by every other strigoi in the area. I couldn't move properly and I couldn't breath. Shit… if I died I'd turn strigoi again…

"NO!" a sweet voice screamed furiously. They were all off me in the same instant, either dead or retreating. When I looked up and expected to see a few fire wielding Moroi I was stunned to see Kristin.

Her hair was on fire and the flames in her eyes had consumed the entire eye socket now. She had lots of weird swirly marks on her forehead, and it looked like fire was burning behind them. She was standing up all on her own with both her hands raised palms up with her teeth bared. And she had little fangs, too.

My one day old baby just saved me.

She started giggling, and her hair and eyes went back to normal. The marks were still on her face, though. "Roza look! Mama Kristin help!" she started walking over to me wobbly, so I ran to meet.

"Holy shit." Christian said.

I started crying when I got her into my arms. God, I was so maternal… "Yes baby, Kristin did help. Kristin saved Roza," I said, jogging back over to the church. "Did you see what she just did?" I demanded of Mia and Christian. Lissa was just walking out of the church now with Adrian.

"That…" Mia said in an offhand voice. "Was the coolest thing, I have ever seen." She stated in a voice that sounded on the brink of explosion. I grinned down at Kristin and she beamed back.

"Kristin do good?" she asked.

"No baby." I shook my head and she frowned, looking very upset. "Kristin do great!" I kissed her forehead and her face broke out into that same magnificent smile. She was over perfect.

"What did we miss?" Adrian asked. "Did Kristin walk or something?"

Me, Christian, and Mia laughed. Even Kristin gave a short giggle. "No, she just killed," I turned around to point at the pile of dust. "I don't know how many there were, but she killed them all in one go."

Adrian laughed, assuming I was being sarcastic. He stopped when he realized he was the only one laughing. "Wait what?" he scoffed, frowning in confusion. "How? That's not possible for Christ sakes! She's a _baby_!" he was trying to explain everything to himself. Poor guy…

"She's not just a baby, Adrian." Lissa said, patting him on the back. "She's a Hathaway."

After that little attack everything seemed to be over everywhere, but no one left their area's until the sun started to rise. We had only ten casualties, and I was glad that I didn't know any of them. Once again, everyone who fought in the battle was awarded a tattoo, and they choose to give us all another one of the star tattoo's that meant we'd been in battle and killed many strigoi. They actually tried to convince me that Kristin needed a tattoo, but I told them to piss off. Tattoos hurt too much, so my baby wasn't going to have one yet.

Not many people actually did believe that Kristin saved me, only those who were at the church and everyone that knew I wouldn't make something like that up.

Kristin was a week old now, and she hadn't changed much at all. She could walk and talk, and punch and kick as well. Her physical appearance hadn't changed at all, but her hair had frown a few centimeters longer, but other then that she was just a normal baby… sort of.

Today was my last day off, and it was now time for me to go to my first class. I had a combat class in the in the gym with a bunch of senior novices. And Kristin was coming to class with me today.

"Okay baby, don't let them scare you. If anyone says anything mean or touches you without permission, break their fingers." I told her as the class walked in through the doors.

She grinned up at me and nodded. "Do I get to fight too mama?" she asked.

I shook my head and kissed her forehead, placing her on the wooden desk to watch today's lesson. "No honey, you can't fight the novices. If they hurt you I'd have to kill them." _them _hurting _her_ wasn't what I was really worried about.

"Welcome back Guardian Hathaway." They asked together. "Is that your baby girl?"

"Class, meet Kristin. Now, this is still a class so concentrate, I want five laps of the oval and then come stretch." They started running, and I started warming up. When they got back they went to go stretch.

"Do we get to fight to you, Kristin?" one boy asked her.

She smiled. "Nope. Mama said I'm not aloud to hurt the big kids." She said sweetly.

The boy started laughing. "Don't you mean she doesn't want us to hurt you?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "No no no! Mama said I'm not aloud to hurt the big kids unless big kids try to hurt me."

The boy snorted. "You're a baby, what are you gonna do to hurt us?" he scoffed.

I grinned. "Touch her, just poke her and see what happens." He looked over at me with an incredulous look. "Baby you know what to do." I said, looking down at Kristin. "Go on, poke her. Or are you to scared that the little babies going to hurt you?" I taunted.

He frowned and reached out to poke her. "See? She you aren't so scary." He announced. Kristin looked at me, asking for permission. I nodded and grabbed his arm. "Huh?"

"No say you touch me. Bag big boy." She said, and then she twisted his arm and snapped the bone in a few different directions. Crap… a little more then I thought she was going to do. "Oppsies… mama I sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him so much." She bit her lip and frowned.

"it's okay," I said, rushing over to the boy. "He'll be fine." I grabbed his arm and let the magic flow, fixing him up. "See? She's not scary at all, is she?" I asked. "Do you still want to fight her?"

"N-no, sorry Guardian Hathaway, I sh-should have listened to you." He stuttered before rushing back over to the others.

"Is there anyone else that wants to fight Kristin?" I asked them. There's was a collective 'no guardian Hathaway' and I couldn't help but laugh at the fear in their voices. "Okay, I guess I'll have to fight you myself. Same drill as last time, winners, losers, waiters. Go."

The rest of the lesson went on the same way any other lesson would have if Kristin wasn't there. She was like a little cheer section for me, and the two girls in this class went to sit and talk with her. They were smart enough to ask her first though. Kristin loved talking to people; it made her feel more normal. She knew she was special, but she didn't like being treated as a freak, so I was glad that not everyone was scared of her.

At the end of class Dimitri showed up to get Kristin.

"Daddy!" she squealed, making a leap for him from the table. He dropped his stuff and hurried to catch her. She giggled. "Daddy's fast."

"You shouldn't hurl yourself off of high objects Kristin, you could hurt yourself." Dimitri was trying to be stern, but he couldn't manage to be any sort of serious with Kristin. Neither could I.

Dimitri had almost finished changing now. Well at least we all thought and hoped he had. He still couldn't touch the magic, but he could describe it perfectly now. It was only a matter of time now.

"Guess what I did daddy!" Kristin clapped her hands and continued before Dimitri could even ask 'what?'. "A silly big boy poked me cause mummy told him to and, and I broked his arm. I didn't mean to hurted him so bad, I was going to broke his fingers but I, I twisted to hard. Mummy fixeded him though, so, so it's alright now, isn't it daddy?"

Dimitri laughed and nodded. "Yes it's alright now. But you can't just break people's arms like that." He said.

"Hey," I said, interrupting his little life lesson. "I told her if anyone touched her without her permission that she could break their fingers, I don't want anyone causing trouble with out little girl." I kissed him and went to go sit down.

He laughed. "Are you going to make her the next Rose Hathaway when she goes to school? Causing trouble and disobeying teachers?"

I snorted. "What were you like in school? I bet you didn't let people walk over you, either."

"Stop." Kristin demanded, she didn't like it when we had little arguments, even if we were just mucking around. "I be like mummy and daddy. I be bestest guarder in school and I listen to teachers." She stated.

"No honey, you'll be the bestest guardian in the _world_." I corrected her.

Dimitri laughed. "The 'bestest' huh? Nice English there Rose." Dimitri chuckled, bagging out Kristin cute little word. "It's good for Kristin, but I'd expect better from you." He kissed her forehead and placed her on the ground.

"Shut up," I muttered. "I can talk however I wanna talk nerd boy," I stuck my tongue out at him. he didn't seem to like me calling him nerd boy.

"Nerd boy?" he demanded, standing up in front of me. "_Nerd boy_?" he jumped at me and I hooked onto him just as we hit the mats on the floor. He kissed me and grabbed my wrists. "Call me nerd boy _one_ more time." He kissed me again. "I dare you."

I chuckled. "Neeerrdddddy nerdy nerrrrdddddddd boy." I laughed as he's expression changed from playful to fake anger.

He kissed me again, and as a distraction I wrapped my legs around his waist. It worked well, and the instant he let his guard down I rolled over, effectively switching our positions. I was now sitting on top of him with a leg on either side of his waist, and I was holding his wrists to the ground above his head.

I grinned and kissed him. "Nerd boy." I giggled when I heard Kristin clap at my victory. I kissed Dimitri until I needed to laugh again. "Keep it under control, Guardian Belikov."

He chuckled. "You don't know how hard I'm trying." He said, kissing me again.

And then the door opened and footsteps sounded out through the hall… shit, my next class. My eyes snapped open wide to find Dimitri's eyes just as wide as mine. We both froze in place, contemplating what to do next.

"And that," I said, removing my lips from Dimitri's and releasing his wrists. "Is why you should never let your guard down Guardian Belikov." I pushed myself off to the side and stood up blushing deeply. Well, that was embarrassing.

Dimitri got up and cleared his throat. "Thank-you Guardian Hathaway." He said before he hurried over to the wall to take post.

"Why don't you teach me some life lessons Guardian Hathaway?" Jesse asked, breaking the tension. Everyone started laughing and we continued on with our class the way we would any other day.

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	21. Chapter 21

**WOO! chapter 21! hell yeah!**

**Answers:  
1)Kristin only has fire, but she's a super fire thing! woo!  
2)No, Davis is dead so he won't be back.  
3)Yes, they doooo specialize in other elements, i just like fire ^_^ BUT all of them specialize in spirit. That's a given.  
4)When i start writting i get...obsessive, we'll call it. I figure out something i want to write and i can't stop until i'm finished, and when i'm finish i've usually got a decent sized chapter on my hands :)  
5)Okay that's a toughy. I am going to keep posting, but i've got an ending ready already. So there will probably only be a few more chapters to this story before it's finished because of the other two story's i'm working on. And the companion story, too. But there should be a good chapter or two more before i finish, it all depends on timing. The next chapter might be the last... :O...**

****

Enjoy! xxx :)

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DIMITRI POV

I was watching over one of Christian's classes again, recording the student teacher magic brawl. Christian was trying to be fair by making water verse fire and what not, but all they wanted to do was fight him.

"What's wrong Ozera?" one of the senior girls that were trying to get him to fight them demanded. "Scared that you'll get beaten by some kids?" she taunted.

Christian glowered at her. They all knew very well that the only reason he wouldn't fight them is for their own safety. "Alright." He said, sighing and standing up. "But I'm going to need a healer in here, preferably Robert and Lissa." He said to me.

I nodded and pulled out my radio and sent the message to Rose, so she could signal Robert with her mind. Robert would be able to find Lissa at the clinic as well, so it saved time.

"Okay," I said, nodding up at Christian. "Give them ten minutes."

He nodded and turned to his class with a menacing smile that signaled to them that he was about to torture them some more. Christian was such a cruel teacher. "Alright," he said to silence the class. "I'll take fire users until the healers get here. Do you want two on one or one on one?" he grinned at the sudden cowardice of his class. "Or have you rethought who you would like to fight against? Remembering that this is a senior qualifier test, and if you don't pass you will be unable participate in the guardian field experience, and therefore will remain defenseless and unmarked." He was just plain old scaring them now. How cruel…

"That's it." The same senior girl as before smashed her fist into her desk and jumped up. "Me and you, one on one!" how brave of her. If Christian's teaching methods were anything like Rose's this girl would already have based from sheer bravery. To bad this isn't Rose's class.

"Name and element?" Christian asked, pulling out the marking board.

"Emma Clarke, air." She said. She sounded just as confident as she looked, which was impressive considering she was about to fight a fire specialist. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a pair of white gloves and stuck them on with a smirk. I see, she had some sort of secret weapon. That must be where she got her confidence from.

I pulled out the video camera Headmistress Kirova had given me and turned it on, getting ready to record.

Christian frowned down at her hands. "What are those?"

"Have you never seen gloves before?"

"Shut up," he muttered. "They're infused with magic; they'll intensify your attacks. Where did you get those from?"

She faltered for a second, surprised that he could tell that just by looking at them. "I made them." she announced proudly. "I got the idea of Guardian Hathaway, you know how she's got those cool black gloves?"

Christian grinned and I smirked a little. "Hathaway, huh?" he shook his head. "And what makes you think you'll be aloud to use those during a fight, Miss Clarke?" he asked, smirking a little at the overly pissed off expression she was displaying.

"Why the hell not? If Hathaway uses gloves like these when she's fighting in the real world why can't I use them for practice? What if I plan on using them all the time in the real world, huh?"

Christian grinned and walked over to her with his hand out. "Good. You just earned your first points."

She smiled and shook his hand. "Thanks."

The door opened, and Lissa and Robert stepped through. "What's happening here?" Robert asked, looking around the class room.

"It's time for the Moroi that want to be guardians to have their qualifiers, but they want to fight me instead of each other, so I decided we may need you two just incase." Christian walked over and gave Lissa a hug. "Alright, let's begin." He said. Emma smiled and strutted over to the cleared part of the room.

And then the fight began.

The rest of the class went on and everyone became very eager to fight Christian. Absolutely none of them actually managed to beat him, but he passed almost all of them. The ones he didn't pass were the ones he was yet to fight, but he ran out of time and had to call the quits. Lissa and Robert were needed a _lot_ throughout that lesson.

As soon as the class ended I was out the door, heading to the gym where me girls were waiting.

"Daddy!" Kristin squealed, making a leap for me the instant I walked through the door, off a table. I dropped my stuff and hurried to catch her, scared that she might actually hurt herself if she hit the floor again. She giggled. "Daddy's fast."

"You shouldn't hurl yourself off of high objects Kristin, you could hurt yourself." I was trying very hard to be stern, but I couldn't manage to be any sort of serious with my little girl. Neither could Rose though, so it was alright.

"Guess what I did daddy!" Kristin clapped her hands and continued before I could say anything. "A silly big boy poked me cause mummy told him to and, and I broked his arm. I didn't mean to hurted him so bad, I was going to broke his fingers but I, I twisted to hard. Mummy fixeded him though, so, so it's alright now, isn't it daddy?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, nodding in agreement. "Yes it's alright now. But you can't just break people's arms like that." I said. What if she accidently killed someone?

"Hey," Rose interrupted in a smug voice. "I told her if anyone touched her without her permission that she could break their fingers, I don't want anyone causing trouble with out little girl." She said, kissing me before she went to go sit down.

I laughed. "Are you going to make her the next Rose Hathaway when she goes to school? Causing trouble and disobeying teachers?" it was a joke and she knew it, but I knew she would rebuttal.

She snorted. "What were you like in school? I bet you didn't let people walk over you, either." Well, she had a point. If anyone tried to harm me they usually ended up in the clinic.

"Stop." Kristin demanded, she didn't like it when we had little arguments, even if we were just mucking around. "I be like mummy and daddy. I be bestest guarder in school and I listen to teachers." She stated. She was so cute…

"No honey, you'll be the bestest guardian in the _world_." Rose corrected her grinning. I could have said that Rose was going to be the best guardian in the world, but that would just cause us to have another play argument, and Kristin didn't like that.

I laughed at Rose. "The 'bestest' huh? Nice English there Rose." I chuckled, peeking down at Kristin. "It's good for Kristin, but I'd expect better from you." I kissed Kristin's forehead and placed her on the ground.

"Shut up," she muttered. "I can talk however I wanna talk nerd boy," she stuck m her tongue out at me. Nerd boy? Where the hell did that come from?

"Nerd boy?" I demanded, standing up in front of her. "_Nerd boy_?" I jumped at her, knocking her onto the mats behind us. I was trying to be mean, but I couldn't help but kiss her when we were in this position. Grabbing her wrists, I said "Call me nerd boy one more time," I kissed her again before saying "I dare you."

I snickered and smirked a little. "Neeerrdddddy nerdy nerrrrdddddddd boy." She laughed at my attempt to look angry with her.

I kissed her again, and she wrapped her legs around my waist, sending thousands of idea's through my head. The instant I let my guard down she rolled us over so that she was now sitting over me with a leg on either side, holding my wrists above my head. I didn't mind this position either…

She grinned and kissed me. "Nerd boy." Kristin started clapping at Rose's victory, causing Rose to giggle like a school girl. She turned back to me and smirk, trying to stifle a laugh. "Keep it under control, Guardian Belikov." She said.

I chuckled, trying to cover up the fact that I was embarrassed. "You don't know how hard I'm trying." I said, kissing her again.

The door creaked open and footsteps sounded through the hall. That must be Rose's next class… my eyes snapped open wide, and two seconds later Rose's mimicked him. we were both frozen in place, thinking about what we should do next.

"And that," Rose said, unhinging her lips from mine while she released my wrists. "Is why you should never let your guard down Guardian Belikov." She pushed herself off to the left side of me and stood up, blushing deeply.

I got up and cleared my throat. "Thank-you Guardian Hathaway." I said before I ruched over to take my position at the classroom wall.

"Why don't you teach me some life lessons Guardian Hathaway?" Jesse asked, breaking the tension. Everyone started laughing and they continued on with their class.

**ROSE POV**

Class passed easily, fighting students then healing students. No-one in this class was stupid enough to touch Kristin though, which was a little disappointing. The horrified looks on those other novices faces last session was hilarious!

Dimitri had to leave the class to go watch over another one of Christian's next lesson, which was a bit of a disappointment. When I went to training with Christian, Robert, and ninja boy it was a surprise to see that they were all still running laps for the entire session. I never got to move them onto combat, woops.

"Look whose here!" Jesse said as he finished up a lap. "We put more weights on while you were gone, when do we move onto combat?"

I grinned. "Now." I tossed him some wrist weights, and when he caught them they knocked him backwards onto the ground. "Those are your knew wrist weights." I declared, tossing a pair at Christian and Robert. They both dodged there's, learning from Jesse's mistake.

"How much do these weigh?" Christian demanded, trying to lift one of his up off the ground and wrap it around his wrist.

I pursed my lips. "40kg…" ninja boy already had his wrapped around his wrists. "I could get you some 30kg ones?" I offered. Robert hadn't even tried to pick his up yet; he was just staring at them with a curious expression.

"I think that might suit me better, too." Robert said.

I smirked. "Alright, wait here." I went and picked up the spare weights and ran back to mine and Dimitri's room to collect the 30kg wrist weights. I guess I probably shouldn't brag by telling them that I was wearing 55kg wrist weights… "Here you go," I handed them their knew weights and they latched them to their wrists.

"What's the point of this?" Christian muttered, swinging his arms backwards and forwards to get a feel of how he could move his arms.

"Well, if you have to try and punch me with weights on, you have to use more power to get the same affect. So when you take the weights off it's easier to punch and you have more power, so you hit harder." I explained.

Jesse grinned. "You should do this in class,"

I snorted. "I'd have too many complaints. Then I'd lose my temper and spend the whole lesson healing people again."

Me and Jesse went through the training laughing at Christian and Robert, neither of which could manage to punch each other with the weights on. After awhile I told them to just swing at air until they got the hang on it. Christian was punching at air just as Robert decided he was going to walk in front of him. Christian's wrist weights came lose and snapped off, smacking Robert in the head. We all pissed ourselves laughing at that. It looked so funny when Robert got hit, one minute he was up right and the next he was going head first into the ground.

**DIMITRI POV**

Once again I was stuck in Christian's class, and he was currently trying to convince his junior class to attack me instead of him.

"Do you really think we're that stupid?" a black haired Moroi boy scoffed. "That's Belikov; even if we managed to hurt him Hathaway would murder us."

"Or the baby, don't forget her." A blond girl added in. I started laughing at that. So they were scared of Kristin, huh? Cool.

"Don't hurt him…" Christian muttered. "Just get him wet or something… that's your homework. Whoever soaks Belikov first doesn't have homework tonight." Christian grinned at me and I glowered back.

Christian turned ran out of the room and came back with two buckets of water. "Here you go,"

The water floated out of the buckets and split into numerous different bubbles. And then they all came flying at me. I closed my eyes and stuck arms up for minimal protection. I don't know how long I was waiting to get wet, but I should have been soaked by now.

"What the hell?" Christian said in a disbelieving voice. "Who the hell did you… oh shit, I get it."

I opened my eyes to see what he was talking about, but everything was blurry. It took me a moment to work out that it was blurry because I was looking at them through a wall of water.

"Did I do that?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. The magic… I specialized in water? Damn… water didn't kill strigoi…

Christian nodded. "Interesting…" he muttered. "Can you drop the water?" he asked.

Drop it? Why would I drop it? I was going to soak him if I could… but how'd I do it? How do I control it? What did Rose do? Rose just used her hands… I raised a hand and shifted it to the left, pleased to see that the liquid mimicked its movement. Grinning, I through the water straight at Christian.

It hit him before he even knew it was going to, causing everyone to laugh at him. Now why hadn't I recorded that?

Christian's head was facing the ground, his arms were crossed and his eyes were closed. His head lifted up a little bit so I could see his eyes properly when they snapped open. I guess he was a little overly pissed off. His left eye twitched a little bit and he took a step forward, lifting his head up so he was glaring at me straight on. I snickered at the fury burning in his eyes, wait until Rose and everyone hear about this…

"You and me, right here, right now." He demanded. He uncrossed his arms and his hands burst into flames.

I grimaced. "Calm down Christian… it's just a bit of water… no need to be hasty…" I took a step back and raised my hands to show I wasn't armed. He took it the wrong way and smirked, throwing a fire ball at me. I ducked and did a barrel roll, pulling two desks down to form a barrier.

"Don't hid, Dimitri. It's weak." The desk burst into flames and I jumped up to see that he was standing in a puddle of water. "Got cha'." He grinned and prepared to toss another ball of fire at me.

Acting out of instinct I lifted the water he was standing on up until he smacked into the roof and fell unconscious. Glad that was over… what the hell got into him?

**LISSA POV**

Rose had asked me and Adrian to take care of Kristin for the rest of the day, so right now we were in the clinic playing peek-a-boo with the prettiest baby alive.

"Whhhheeerrreeedddd the bayyybeeee goooo?" I asked as Kristin stuck her hands over her eyes. She pulled them off and giggled. "There her is!" I clapped for her and picked her up, spinning her around in a circle. God she was so cute!

Adrian chuckled. "You know you should speak in proper English or else she'll get the idea that that's how people actually talk."

I stuck my tongue at him, and Kristin copied me. "Don't ruin the fun, Adrian."

"Yeah!" Kristin chimed. "Don't ruin fun!" she turned back to me, looking for approval. I grinned and nodded, kissing her forehead gently.

Adrian sighed and went to go sit down. "We're supposed to be working…" he muttered, picking up a magazine.

"The only reason you aren't having fun is because she doesn't like you, get over it buddy." I declared. "Hey Kristin." I whispered, and she stuck her ear in close to my mouth so she could hear. "Go give the grumpy man a hug, okay?" she clapped her hands and nodded, squirming out of my arms to go get Adrian.

"What's she doing?" he demanded. She was running across the room at him, it was only natural for him to be a little scared. "What's she doing!?"

"Huggies!" Kristin announced, jumping up at Adrian to wrap her arms around him. "Grumpy man need huggies!" she announced like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Kristin make grumpy man no grumpy man!"

"Err…" Adrian didn't know what to do, so he wrapped an arm around her. "Thanks." He said, smiling a little.

I grinned in victory when Adrian grimaced after Kristin left him by himself to come back to me. "Told you so! The only reason you weren't having fun is because she wasn't paying attention to you!" I stuck my tongue out a giggled. He was upset because the baby wasn't paying attention to him, classic.

The door opened and I heard heavy footsteps walking up to the main desk to check someone in.

"What happened to him?" Dr. Olendzki demanded, rushing around to help whoever it was.

"Err… we had a little fight and he sort of knocked himself out on the roof…" Dimtiri muttered. So Dimitri knocked someone out, better go check it out.

"Daddy!" Kristin squealed, recognizing Dimitri's voice.

"Kristin?" Dimitri called. "Where are you?"

"She's here, whose hurt?" I asked, putting Kristin down so she could run to Dimitri. Steeping around the corner I gasped. Dimitri had Christian hauled over his shoulder unconscious. "What did you do to him!?" I demanded, placing a hand on Christian's forehead to heal him.

Christian's eyes snapped open and he's hands lit up as he jumped off Dimitri and hurled a fire ball at him. Dimitri gasped and Kristin hissed, jumping up in front of the fire ball before it could hit Dimitri.

"Christian, stop it!" I tackled him to the floor and everyone looked utterly stunned.

Christian shook his head in a clearing matter, a confused look slipping over his face. "What… where am I? What happened?" he noticed me lying on top of him. "I'm flattered, but I thought we agreed that we'd save this sort of behavior for more private area's…"

I glowered and smacked him in the head, standing up. "Why don't you tell me what happened, Christian?"

He frowned, sitting up on the floor. He looked up at Dimitri and smirked. Jabbing a finger at Dimitri and turned back to me. "He wet me." He accused.

Oh, well that was okay then. I turned to Dimitri and sighed. "Were you trying to get yourself killed?" I demanded.

"All I did was wet him! He went psycho and started burning things trying to get me!" Dimitri said, trying to defend himself. Oh, he was a dhampire; he didn't know all of this.

"Christian specialized in fire." I stated to obvious. "If you cross fire with water, you put out the fire." I continued and he gave me a sanity questioning eyebrow arch. "Wetting a fire specialist cause's the magic to take over the mind and kicks the body into self defense. By wetting Christian his body thought it was under attack, so it reacted off instinct and tried to eliminate the threat." That was new news to him.

"Oh…" he said, frowning. "I didn't know that part." He didn't seem to like not knowing something. He turned to Christian and raised an eyebrow. "How the hell do you shower then?" he asked curiously. We all started laughing while Christian glowered at him.

"When you apply water to yourself the message is sent by the brain, so the body knows that its not under attack." I told him.

He blinked. "Right…" he murmured. "So what happens to me if he hits me with fire?"

"Well, being a dhampire you'd probably burn." I said. Dimitri just kept looking at me like he was waiting for me to realize something, so did Christian. "What?" I demanded. They just kept looking at me like I was missing something very obvious. It too me a while, but I finally figured it out. The change was complete. "OH!"

"Finally," they all said together.

"Took you a while there Liss," Christian snickered.

**ROSE POV**

We were now in last period and Kristin was hanging out with Lissa and Adrian in the clinic, and Dimitri was watching over one of Christian's classes. The class I had now was one of the classes I shared with Skylar, and instead of fighting the students this lesson we set them on each other.

"You like my brother, don't you?" I asked her.

She blinked twice and frowned. "What makes you think that?" she asked, pursing her lips. I gave her my oh-come-on! Look and she sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

I grinned. "Yeah, actually it is."

She grimaced. "I suppose you're going to tell me to stay away from him then?" she asked.

I frowned. "Hell no," I scoffed. "Seeing him look at you was the first normal emotion I ever saw him show!" I told her, and her face brightened up a little. "I'm going to tell you to go for him, I don't want to have a brother that's an emotionless freak." I grinned and she beamed.

"Really?" I nodded. "But I thought you hated me…"

"And I thought you hated me. I guess we were both wrong." I smirked and she grinned again. It was nice to actually have a conversation with Skylar again, it reminded me of actually attending Saint Vlad's when we were class mates. I never thought I'd miss school, but I couldn't pretend I didn't. I was gonna miss teaching here, too. It was a real shame that there was only a month until the end of the year ceremony…

"Friends again?" she asked, sticking her hand out for a handshake. It was childish, but I didn't care.

Grinning, I took her hand and shook it. "Friends." Not two seconds later the door slammed open and Lissa burst through grinning.

"Rose, Rose, Rose!" she chimed jumping up and down in front of me. "He's done Rose! Come see what he does come on!" he demanded, grabbing my hand and trying to pull me.

"Lissa caaalllmmmmm down." I demanded, searching her for Kristin. "Where's Kristin?" I asked her.

"With Dimitri and Adrian and everyone. It's Dimitri! You gotta come see, come on!"

I turned to Skylar and grimaced. "I might be back… but I doubt it, put them on laps ten minutes before class ends." I waved goodbye and let Lissa drag me to the school swimming pool. "What are we doing here?" I asked. I smiled when I saw Dimitri floating on the water topless, but I fell over when I realized he was floating on water topless above the pool level. "What the fuck?" I demanded, glaring at Dimitri and trying to make the scene in front of me make sense.

Lissa grinned. "Dimitri specialized in water." She announced.

"Dimitri specialized in water? But… oh! The change!" I grinned and started sprinting for the pool. Dimitri was like me now! But he specialized in water… hmm… oh well. I didn't care that I was still dressed in loose training pants and a singlet, and I actually forgot that I had my weights on when I made the leap for the water. I sunk straight to the bottom of the pool, both my ankles and my wrists refused too move, I was drowning for fuck sakes…

Dimitri noticed this and was quick to lift me up. I didn't get to congratulate him yet. He dropped me on the side of the pool. Like literally dropped…

"Sorry," he said. "I'm still getting used to it…" he frowned.

I grinned, taking me weights off and dropping them on the ground. They smashed the tiles when the made contact with them and everyone gasped.

"How much do those weigh?" Lissa demanded.

Christian laughed and unbuckled his own weights, dropping them on the tiles next to mine, forming his own hole. "Mine are only 30kg, so Rose would have to have at least 50kg." he muttered, taking his shirt off to dive in the pool.

"55kg on the hands, 60kg on the ankles." I announced proudly, jumping into the pool. It took me a minute to realize I hadn't spotted Kristin or Adrian yet. "Where's Kristin?" I asked Dimitri.

He smirked and inclined his head to the high diving boards. Kristin was on Adrian's shoulders and Adrian was climbing up to the top board.

"Adiran!" I called to him and he stopped and looked down. "Hurt my baby and I'll kill you!" I announced, grinning. He nodded and kept climbing. When he reached the top Kristin kicked him in the face by accident and we all laughed. Lucky for him it wasn't too hard.

He lifted her off his shoulders and placed her on the diving board. She skipped to the end and peered down at us all. She grinned when she saw my. "Mummy look how high up I are!" he grinned.

"I see you honey, be careful!" I called back, moving closer to the area of where she would land when she jumped.

She shook her head and grinned. "Careful booooooring!" she declared, swinging her arms back and forth. "Kristin want fun!" she said as she leapt off the diving board.

Dimitri was just as ready as I was to catch her, but he had the advantage seeing as he could control water now. She splashed into the water and started trying to swim back up, but she couldn't so I grabbed her instantly, putting her on my shoulders before I swam back up.

"Mummy I can't swim yet." She said in an annoyed voice. "Why can't I swim?" she demanded

I smiled, happy to see that I would have a chance to teach her how to do something. I was beginning to think she was going to know how to do everything. "I'll teach you, don't worry."

She grinned. "Thank Roza!"


	22. No GoodByes

**This... _is_ the last chapter of this story.**

**Jesus, i never knew it could hurt so much to end a freaking story... But yes, it's over. Sorry, but it was time.**

**Enjoy! xxx :)****  
**

* * *

**ROSE POV**

So much for _teaching_ Kristin to swim… when I swam over to get out and go get her some floaters she watched what I did, when I got back she was racing Dimitri. Sigh… and I was really looking forward to that.

There's a week until the students graduate, and a week until we're all set loose on the strigoi world. Lissa decided she was going to be a doctor for the human world to see if she could heal people without the use of her powers. Adrian planned on stalking Mia wherever she may go, and Robert was going to stalk me, Dimitri, Kristin, Lissa, and Christian.

Kristin was assigned Nikki as a guardian, and Christian was assigned Eddie. Lissa was assigned to me and Dimitri, obviously. Robert decided that he wanted a guardian and requested Skylar, she accepted without hesitation. I was overly pleased to hear that Tamika and Jesse were being assigned to Adrian, and Jackson was assigned to Mia.

All in all, I think everything was going to work out well for us.

Kristin was still growing at normal human speed in all ways physical, other then the fact she would punch down a building when she through a tantrum… mentally, though, she just kept getting smarter. It was like monkey see monkey do with her, which meant I was deprived of teaching my baby any life skills. Sure, I was glad that she could take care of herself, but I still wanted to take care of her…

Here I am now, standing in front of my last class ever. Dimitri, Nikki, and Eddie were posted at the back of the room keeping watch, and Skylar was helping me control the hyper active soon to be guardians.

"They aren't going to train, are they?" Skylar muttered with a sigh.

I pursed my lips and shook my head. "I don't think so." I sighed and went to go sit down, she followed. "So…" I smirked. "You and Robert, eh? I'm glad I guess. Beats me having to take care of him, that's for sure."

She blushed a little but smiled. "Yeah, looks like we'll be partners of sorts, huh?"

I grinned widely at that. "Yeah, I guess so."I turned around to look at Dimitri shaking his head back at me. "Shut up, let's see you make them train then." I demanded.

He smirked and walked over to the desk we were sitting on and jumped up on it. "Listen up!" he ordered. The class fell quiet and I glowered up at him. Smart ass… "This is your last lesson as a novice, and this is the last time you'll have to take orders from Guardian Hathaway or Guardian Nelson… or even me, for that matter." He smirked down at me, and there was a look in his eye that I'd seen somewhere before… I didn't like it… "So why not make the most of it?" he asked innocently. I wasn't fooled…

"Make the most of being ordered around?" one of the students scoffed.

Dimitri grinned and waved Eddie and Nikki over. "We are going to fight you." He pulled out his radio and started muttering things about one year suspensions and students being kept down if they failed. I could just make out the sound of Kirova's voice from the other end, and she seemed to be agreeing. Pulling out a small microphone like thing, he stuck it up next to the radio so we could all hear Kirova rant.

"Students will fight the guardians in charge of this class, if they lose they will repeat their senior year." He pulled to microphone away and stuck his radio away again.

Oh hell yeah. "You heard the headmistress." Dimitri declared, grinning widely as he took an offensive stance. Me and Skylar slid off the table and mimicked him, so did Eddie and Nikki. "I hope you enjoyed your senior year, because you'll be repeating it."

That's all it took.

Battle cries broke out throughout the entire gym, and I ran outside to take my weights off. I now wore 55kg on my feet and 60kg on my wrists. If I was going to fight a gym of desperate senior novices I was going to need to be ready.

Stepping back in the hall I got piled. So much for avoiding this crap.

**LISSA POV**

I was taking care of Kristin for Rose again when she started demanding she see her.

"Alright, we'll go see Rose." I sighed, standing up and taking her hand.

Christian was already off classes today, so he was sitting around with me, Mia, Robert and Adrian. They all came with us as we headed down to the hall to find Rose.

"How'd ya like that!" a student yelled from inside the hall, raising curiosity. What's going on…?

Stepping into the gym we froze. The novices were all grinning widely and glaring down at Rose, Skylar, Dimitri, Nikki and Eddie. They just so happened to be tied up with rope and laying face first on the ground. Rose was bound with metal cuffs, though. She must have burnt out of her rope.

But how the hell did this happen?

"Mummy! Daddy!" oh shit, Kristin…

I reached down and picked her up. "Don't worry, they're just playing games…" I muttered, taking in the scene before me once more. "And… they lost, I think." I walked over and nudged Rose's should. "What happened?"

"This is too embarrassing for words." She muttered, rolling over to face me. "Oh hey honey." She grinned when she saw Kristin.

"Mummy got beated." Kristin giggled. "Silly mummy."

Rose glowered at me for bringing her here to see her in defeat. "Yeah, I lost this one… wanna break me out?" she wriggled her wrists.

"I help!" Kristin announced, jumping onto the ground and moving over to annihilate Rose's cuffs. She made breaking them look so easy… "Help daddy too!"

I'd hate to see Kristin on a sugar rush…

"Thanks." Dimitri said when she ripped the ropes off. He sighed. "I guess you're all going to graduate then…"

The students roared in victory before exiting the gym.

***

**ROSE POV**

All classes are officially finished, and there is only two days left until graduation. Then another day until the ceremony, where the new guardian's will be presented with their promise marks. And apparently where all of the video's that Dimitri and other guardian's had recorded would be played…

The last time I would be at St. Vladimir's Academy.

Kirova and I were currently discussing what future Kristin might have at this school when she was old enough. She thought it best for me to simply leave her here to be raised the way I was, but there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.

That's what my mother did to me, and I hated her for it. Kristin wasn't going to hate me, I wouldn't allow it. I'd train her at home all her life if I had to, she didn't need a promise mark is she didn't want one. I would give her the opportunity that my mother never gave me.

I would let her pick her life.

"I think you should leave Kristin here the way your mother did with you." She declared.

I snorted. "Do I really need to point out what's wrong with that sentence? Let's start with _the way your mother did with you_. Sure, I'll just abandon my baby so she hates me as much as I hated my mother. Or are you forgetting that part?"

She sighed in frustration. "But look how you turned out!" she demanded. "You're already a legendary guardian, and you've only been a guardian for a year! And then there's Belikov, too."

I glared her down. "I will not leave Kristin here until she turns 5. And I will not leave her here unless she _wants_ to be a guardian. I refuse to force her into a life that she may not want."

"You'd rather do what? Waste natural talent? Have her abandon her duties?"

I growled, like I actually growled at her. I didn't think that was possible… "She is _not_ a dhampire, therefore it is _not_ her duty." I smirked. "Hell, it's not even my duty anymore. Or Dimitri's."

She faltered for a moment. "Fine." She said curtly, shaking her head and giving in. "Just know that there's always a spot here for her. No matter what age you plan to leave her with us."

I nodded. "I already knew that." Standing up, I shook her hand before leaving the room. That woman infuriated me so much…

"How'd it go?" Lissa asked when I entered the commons.

I shot her a side-long glance and she swallowed loudly.

"That bad, huh? What was she saying?"

"She thinks I'm forcing Kristin to neglect her duties as a guardian. It's not her fucking duty and she's not neglecting anything." I growled. "Where is she?"

"With Mia." Lissa's voice trembled, and it was only then that I felt the fear pouring through the bond.

I chuckled. "Are you scared of me Liss?" I smirked at her, showing I was no longer angry.

"Not anymore." She sighed, smiling up at me.

***

"Graduation's tomorrow." Dimitri muttered, trying to start conversation now that Kristin was asleep.

"Yeah, I guess it is." I smiled over at him. "You know we don't have to go… we could use that time for more…" I paused, trying to think of an appropriately inappropriate word. "Well, we could have some me and Dimitri time. I'm sure Mia and Lissa wouldn't mind baby sitting Kristin."

He grinned and rolled me over so I was on top of him. "Why don't we have some Rose and Dimitri time now?" he purred, kissing the hollow at the bottom of my throat.

I giggled a little and pushed away. "Because I'm not giving Kristin the sex talk at the age of 2 weeks old." I said, snuggling into his side to settle in for sleep.

He frowned and sighed. "Guess you're right." He murmured, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me onto his bare chest. "Good night Roza." He kissed my hair. "I love you."

I kissed his chest and smiled in content. "I love you too."

Falling into unconsciousness, I couldn't help but intrude Dimitri's dream.

"Nice to see you again." He grinned and wrapped me up in a hug. "You know, Kristin can' wake up in here…" he suggested.

I blinked. "That's not a bad idea." I muttered, knocking him in the wavy grass.

We were currently in a large grass meadow, there were a few trees here and there but other then that it was just grass.

"I disagree." Adrian's voice totally ruined the moment.

"So do I." Alina said, jumping out of one of the tree's while Adrian rose from the grass.

"Then go intrude on someone else's dreams." I demanded.

"Well Adrian's in my dream." Mia said, jumping out of another tree. "Then Alina went into his dream, and then Dimitri got into Alina's dream. And now you're in Dimitri's dream." She explained. "So really I'm the one who should be telling all of you to get your own dreams." She concluded Justas Lissa popped up out of no where. "Right, and now Lissa's in your dreams. Now we're just missing Robert." She sighed as Robert popped out of thin air. "I should have known better."

"Nice to see you, too…" Lissa mumbled, walking over to me. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"Dream party." I muttered. "Hey, could you take care of Kristin tomorrow?" I glanced down at Dimitri to see him smirking.

"Yeah sure, I guess." She said. "Why?"

I pursed my lips. "Alone time." I looked at and smirked to see her grimace.

"Shouldn't have asked." She muttered.

"So are you people going to get out of my head?" Mia demanded.

Everything fell quiet as we all exchanged glances. We all said NO in the same moment and started laughing. She glowered at us all and turned on Adrian.

"You go, now. Out of my dreams, now!" she demanded as she started pushing him backwards. "If you go so will the rest of them." Adrian sighed and suddenly I was laying awake in my bed, and so was Dimitri.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I… guess Adrian left Mia alone by waking up. Then I woke up… then you woke up… so I guess Mia just had us all woken up." He yawned and looked up at the clock. "It's about time, anyway." He muttered.

We should have been up an hour ago.

***

Lissa came over shortly after we were dressed to collect Kristin. They were going to go swimming with Christian, Adrian and Mia in the school swimming pool, leaving me and Dimitri all alone to enjoy the peace.

"Mmm…. I love yoouuu…" I giggled before reaching over for the vodka again. "And I love you, tooooooo." I told the bottle as I took another swig. I turned back to Dimitri with an eyebrow raised. "Jealous? You have to share me with a vodka bottle." I started laughing again when I saw his gorgeous godlike body sit up on the bed.

"Stupid bottle." he muttered, trying to stand up and walk over to me. "Give it here." He ordered. I stuck my tongue out and started crawling for the door.

"I'll never surrender!" I announced, backing up against the door to take another swig. He was stumbling over towards me and I cracked up when he slipped on my bra and feel over with it on his face. "Hah!" I choked out as I lifted the bottle back to my lips and gasped. "IT'S GONE!" I screamed, hurling the bottle at the wall. It didn't smash luckily.

"That was the last bottle, too." He muttered in a disappointed tone as he crawled over to me.

I threw myself at the floor and started sobbing. "Why!? WHY!? He was so young! So innocent!" I screamed. Lucky everyone was at graduation, or else someone would have thought I was being murdered or something.

"Roza, sweetheart it was a bottle of vodka."

I snapped my head up so I saw glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "HE wasn't just A bottle of vodka. He was the LAST bottle of vodka." I sobbed as he wrapped his arms around me. "The world is so cruel." I stated in a voice someone would use at a funeral.

Dimitri started patting my back. "I'll call Adrian and tell him to bring us some more." He said, looking around the room. "Where's the talker?" he asked.

It took me a while to figure out he was talking about the phone. "I don't know. Oh god!" I jumped up and braced myself against the wall. "They didn't take him too!" I demanded as I ran across the room searching for the phone. "Oh thank god." I sighed when I found it. "What's Adrian's number?"

There was a knock at the door and Dimitri stood up to answer it. "Hellloooooo…" Dimitri said, almost falling out into the hallway.

I heard someone gasp and realized that Dimitri was naked and answering the door. I started laughing and fell back onto the floor, unable to hold myself up.

"err… Robert told me you guys needed some more… vodka…" I recognized Adrian's voice and charged the door at the mention of vodka.

"Iii'llllll take that, thank- QUE" I grabbed the bottles he was holding and slammed the door shut.

"You're welcome…" Adrian's voice faded away as he walked down the hallway.

"I want one!" Dimitri said as he tackled me onto the bed.

The bottle that I just opened fell onto the floor, and we sat and watched as most of it poured out onto the carpet.

Turning my head to face Dimitri. "You can have that one."

He playfully growled at me. "I'll be the strigoi." he knocked the other bottle out of my hand and pinned me down to the bed. It couldn't have been hard for him to do in the drunken state I was currently in. "And you can be the sexy badass guardian."

An outsider wouldn't know Dimitri was totally off his face, but I knew better. When Dimitri was drunk he lost all self control and let himself loose.

And I liked it.

***

When I woke up I was on the floor hugging a bottle of vodka and Dimitri was upside down hanging off the side of the bed with his head on my calf muscles. Christian, and Adrian were standing at the door, and Lissa was nudging my head with her foot. I was both happy and concerned that Kristin wasn't with them.

"Don't worry," Adrian said. "Kristin's with Mia."

I sat up briefly before slamming my body but down and pulling a sheet over myself. "Thanks for the privacy, guys." I was still naked from the night before. Standing up, a put a sheet over Dimitri and pushed him back up onto the bed so he could be comfortable. "I've got a hangover and I'm tired. You better make this good."

"Err…" Christian muttered, sniffing the air. "You shouldn't have given them so much alcohol." Christian muttered to Adrian.

"The ceremony starts in an hour, Rose. It's time to get up and get ready." Lissa said.

"Shit." I stood up and started pushing them towards the door. "Gotta get dressed. Bye." I closed the door and turned to see Dimitri yawning. "Get up, we've got to go." I told him as I grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom for a quick shower so I didn't smell like vodka at the ceremony. I managed to get rid of my headache with a quick hand to the head, for which I was grateful.

The instant I was out of the shower Dimitri was in. My 'quick' shower turned out to take a good 'quick' 40 minutes. I was dressed and ready for the ceremony, wearing the usual guardian attire before Dimitri was even out of the shower, giving him ten minutes to be dressed and ready.

"Wear your hair up." Dimitri said after he finished getting dressed. God… I thought getting dressed in ten minutes was impressive, but I didn't think it was possible to be ready in 5.

He tied my hair up and we rushed off to the ceremony, taking our positions along the walls of the gym when we arrived. No-one seemed to notice us, which was good because we were late.

Novices were walking up to the front, and guardians were walking back. I was so proud when Jesse stood up to get his promise mark, and when he glanced over up me I couldn't help but smile I little. The same thing happened with Tamika and Jackson, I'd always be so proud of them…

Once all of the novices had received their promise marks a few of the guardian's set up a big white screen at the front of the hall, that's where to movie's would be played.

The first movie they played was students attacking Christian with books and pencils. Someone had gone through the video's, and whenever someone made a face they'd pause it and stick a speech bubble up and graffiti the person speaking.

There were a lot of times where everyone just had to laugh, and a lot of times where I had to hide my face. so many of the video's were of me, but they'd gone through and played all of the parts of where I was getting beaten, even know I won most of those fights.

The last video they showed was the fight Me, Dimitri, Nikki, Eddie, and Skylar had against the novices the other day. That one was edited at all, all they'd done was put some hard metal music on where people where screaming "FIGHT!" over and over.

When the video's finished the ceremony was officially over, and we were all officially free from St. Vladimir's Academy.

So why didn't it feel like freedom?

It felt more like we were being forced to leave the place we belonged… probably because of everything we'd been through. This is where it all began, and it was almost where it all ended. It's were I met the love of my life and made all of my friends. It's the place my baby was born.

It was home.

"Yay, freedom at long last, hey?" Christian shook my shoulder. When he saw my face he sighed. "You're gonna miss it too, aren't you?"

I smiled and nodded. "I can't believe we're actually leaving…" I frowned, looking down at my watch. "In and hour."

He sighed. "Yeah," he smiled. "It's harder then it was last time." It took me a second to remember that Christian had also left the academy already. Most of us had…

"I actually agree with you there." it was a lot harder this time, even know this time I wasn't setting out to commit suicide. So this time should have been easier, because this time I was leaving with Dimitri, Lissa, and all of my closest friends. And Kristin.

"Are you and Belikov packed?" he asked. I nodded and he sighed. "I never thought I'd be stuck with you after I got out of high school." He said playfully.

I glowered at him and nodded in agreement. "God, if I had have known I was going to be living in the same house as you at any stage of my life I would've committed suicide. It's funny how things change, isn't it?" I grinned when Lissa and Mia walked over. Followed by Robert, Mia, Skylar, Dimitri, Jesse, Tamika, and Jackson. And of course…

"Mummy, where we go now?" Kristin's voice was sad, and it broke my heart. She was going to miss it here too.

I smiled and picked her up. "We're going to live at the royal court. You'll like it there." No, she'd probably hate it there. We'd only be there for a few years, anyway.

She smiled. "I'll like it cause everyone be there. Won't they?" I loved it how she knew everything.

"Yeah, everyone's going to be there." I frowned, thinking of one person who wouldn't. "Except Alina…" I sighed.

I owed all of this happiness to Alina. Without her, I would have killed Dimitri, effectively killing myself. If I killed Dimitri Kristin never would have been born. I never would have met Robert, and my mother never would have known she'd had twins. Nikki would still be living in hell as a strigoi, and many, _many_ strigoi would still be tainting perfectly good oxygen.

It felt criminal leaving her behind, but she'd be out within another two years, saving someone else's life.

"All of our bags are packed Rose, and Lissa's and Christian's too. We can leave when you're ready." Dimitri said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"I want to say good bye to Alina." I said, turning around to head off to her dorm.

"You can't say bye to me," Alina said from behind me. "Because I'm saying bye to you."

I spun around to see her standing with her hands in her pockets and a small smile on her lips.

I sighed. "This isn't good bye; it's a see you later. I don't care what I've gotta do, I will see you again." I smiled as a tear rolled down my cheek I hugged her. "I owe you my happiness. I owe you my life."

She sniffed and chuckled. "Stop being all mushy, you're supposed to be a badass, remember?"

I laughed with her. She was just like I used to be, cracking a joke to break the tension. I let go of her and wiped my eyes, pulling on a hard face.

"Rose," Dimitri touched my shoulder. "It's time to go." He informed me.

I nodded and turned back to everyone. "Alright." I grinned, thinking of a childish way to part. "Hands in." I demanded, sticking my hand out in front of me. They all piled there hands on top, grinning. "We'll all see each other again. Friends forever."

"Friend's forever." They all agreed as we through our hands in the air.

And then we all went our own ways.

**THE END**

**

* * *

*tears* :(  
**


End file.
